Jason Felter and Justin Green, of Shores Heating and Air, inspect the damages to our WPDE Studio air conditioning unit Thursday.
/ Tonya Brown
FLORENCE -- The WPDE NewsChannel 15 office in Florence was the target of copper thieves, most likely sometime on Wednesday.
WPDE staff members noticed the air conditioning wasn't working Thursday morning and called a repair company to take a look.
After just a few minutes of examining the three units outside the South Cashua Drive office, Jason Felter and Justin Green, of Shores Heating and Air, told us someone broke into the units to steal copper.
They say thieves took the copper coils from one of the units but failed in their efforts to take it from the other two units. He says they cut a line to a second unit and took the top off a third trying to steal copper. The total damage is estimated at $4,200.
According to Shores Heating and Air, the thieves made off with about 60 pounds of copper coil, which is worth about $75.
The Florence County Sheriff's Office is investigating. They're trying to determine if they can get any finger prints off the damaged units.
Investigators say they saw car tracks on the side of tour building, so they say it looks like someone may have driven through there Wednesday night. They're talking with people at neighboring businesses to see if they saw anything out of the ordinary.
This is the 2nd time a WPDE property was hit by copper thieves.
You can read about the theft of copper from our tower in Dillon County here. Captain Cliff Arnette, with the Dillon County Sheriff's Office, says Thomas Leon Williams, of Fayetteville, NC, was arrested on February 25th and charged with Grand Larceny.
He is out of jail on bond.
Have you been a victim of copper theft? Tell us your story below. Leave a comment.
