Ernie Runyon, a farmer outside Pekin, is one of many residents in Illinois who’s been a target for copper thieves.
Last summer, robbers looking to make some quick cash stole the copper wiring from 13 of his 31 land irrigators. One of the irrigators was robbed in three separate instances.
Runyon had to pay up to $10,000 to fix each irrigator. Runyon told his lawmaker. That didn’t sit well with Rep. Mike Unes (R-East Peoria).
The widespread copper, aluminum and metal thefts in his district and across the state prompted the representative to craft a bill, HB 3825, making it harder for thieves to resell stolen material to scrapyards.
“It’s hard to find an industry or an individual not affected by this problem,” Unes said, adding that a strip mall in his district recently had all of its air conditioning units behind the building sawed off and stolen.
His bill, which passed unanimously in the House’s Judiciary Civil Law Committee on Wednesday, would amend the current Recyclable Metal Purchase Registration Law.
Unes called the amendment a “two-pronged approach” at the committee hearing, because the new bill makes it more difficult to sell stolen metal and adds tougher criminal penalties.
Under the amended law, any person caught selling stolen metal would be required to pay for property damages, Unes said.
Metal recyclers in Illinois would also be required to keep records of all metal purchases. Currently, the law only requires purchases over $100 to be recorded.
And no longer can a dealer pay cash for materials such as air conditioner coils or any other copper tubing or wire.
“The bill is a very comprehensive fix to solving this problem,” Unes said in remarks after the hearing.
Recyclers are also prohibited from purchasing items that are clearly marked as property belonging to municipalities, businesses, companies and railroads. This includes guard rails, manhole covers, street signs and cemetery plaques, among others.
Police recently arrested individuals who were stealing manhole covers and sewer grates in Joliet and nearby communities, CBS Chicago reported. Manholes are expensive to replace and dangerous to drivers– a car can lose a wheel when driving over one without a cover.
Rep. Andre Thapedi (D-Chicago), who sits on the Civil Law Committee, said copper thefts impact the inner city too.
“This is a major, major problem that contractors and homeowners deal with on a consistent basis,” Thapedi said. “Thieves come in and are ripping out everything and going to recycle it for peanuts.”
But Paul Arena, north west region vice president at the Illinois Rental Property Owners Association, said the amendment doesn’t do enough to stop thefts before they happen.
“(The bill) does no harm, but it’s still incomplete, and it leaves a big void in something that needs to be addressed,” he said at the meeting.
“We have a terrible problem of our members having their properties damaged.”
The bill has “great bipartisan support” in the House and the Senate, Unes said after the hearing.
“I’m confident we can get this passed,” he said.
