Times look like they've gotten tough for illicit scrap metal scavengers; they’re stealing iron now.
That's the case of two men in Douglasville, who police arrested and charged last Thursday after they were caught allegedly hauling away 1,000 pounds of iron from an old mill owned by the city on Bankhead Highway, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Most recent metal thefts have involved more valuable copper -- typically, the coils of air conditioning units or plumbing from houses and commercial buildings.
But Douglasville police told Channel 2 that the suspects in their case, 24-year-old David Rogers and 30-year-old Benjamin Clinton, had taken metal beams, pipes and wiring.
The haul filled the entire back end of the men's sport-utility vehicle and stuck out a back window, but was worth only about $100, police said.
A woman who lives nearby spotted the men going in and out of the building and alerted authorities, police said.
“A very responsive witness got tired of seeing them going there (and) made a call” last Thursday, said Douglasville police Detective Mac Abercrombie.
By the time officers got there, the suspects were gone, but police caught up with them near a local recycling center. Because of careful records kept by the scrap dealer, investigators said they were able to determine the men had visited the business six times in the prior week to sell metal.
Rogers and Clinton have been booked into Douglas County Jail on charges of burglary, possession of burglary tools and theft by deception, authorities said.
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