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Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

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Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#81

Post by mschuster91 »

chasd00 wrote: post #49
sonicanatidae wrote: post #29

Meth heads are REALLY stepping up their game.

they can get resourceful that's for sure. A family friend had a catalytic converter stolen in the parking lot of a grocery store when they stopped to pick up a few things. Stealing a catalytic converter involves cutting parts of the exhaust system out of a car.

Skilled thieves can do that with a battery powered saw in less than 30 seconds, there's been more than enough videos on youtube showing just how easy it is.

Cheap battery powered tools have made a lot of crime a hell of a lot easier.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#83

Post by dreamworld »

Xirgil wrote: post #36
trompetenaccoun wrote: post #13

Wow. My feeling is that metal theft is getting out of control. If the news reporting on it is to be trusted, cases are in fact rising. Thieves have probably always hit junkyards and stolen wire, but now there seems to be more and more infrastructure hit as well. The oddest aspect of this is that scrap steel isn't even worth that much. How many tons could that be? Let's say it's 400 tons, that's maybe $100k. And it se…

Criminals don't make sense to you because you're trying to explain their behavior with your own thought process. You're likely much smarter than they are, with a better understanding of risk vs reward and lower impulsivity. Also you can't explain criminal behavior with purely financial motivations. Car thieves are not making $33k per car. A lot of them don't even sell them, just steal what's inside and use them for a…

IMO, they should be playing games or sports instead. Give people more opportunities to do just what you said (instead of working supposedly boring (at least to them) jobs), instead of hurting people/property to achieve that.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#84

Post by SoftTalker »

chasd00 wrote: post #41
zdragnar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our local metro area has had a problem with copper thieves for a few years now, cutting open and stealing the wiring from street lights. People are why we can't have nice things, apparently.

when the price of copper went through the roof a few years ago the local drug houses in Dallas started accepting it as payment for drugs. They would then sell the metal to scrap yards at a profit. Once that was up and running any copper left unguarded was gone instantly. Air conditioners were gone, wiring in new construction was gone, wiring in rent houses was gone, any copper anywhere was stolen constantly. I rememb…

My local scrapyard requires a photo ID before they will pay for anything other than aluminum cans. Doesn't seem like a complicated solution.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#85

Post by cyberax »

zdragnar wrote: post #61
throwanem wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Poverty is not itself a reason to commit crime. Of course not. It would be absurd to assert otherwise. You always get some scofflaws, but I don't see a reason to assume you get more scofflaws in a weak economy than a strong one. More lawbreakers, yes, but breaking laws for economically rational reasons isn't the same as doing so for its own sake. I would be curious to know where the people who join such groups come…

Limited experience based on what my friend told me (I grew up in a rural community, so very different dynamics): it starts in schools. Gangs start recruiting young. It's a fast way to get "friends" who have more than you do- the illusion of power, material wealth, so on. Furthermore, attempting to do well in school means your fellow students will bully you for "acting white". If your parents didn't do well in school,…

And if you tell anything of the above on a public forum, you'd be immediately canceled and branded a "racist". It's amazing how the current progressive elite is undermining themselves.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#86

Post by euroderf »

mschuster91 wrote: post #81
chasd00 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they can get resourceful that's for sure. A family friend had a catalytic converter stolen in the parking lot of a grocery store when they stopped to pick up a few things. Stealing a catalytic converter involves cutting parts of the exhaust system out of a car.

Skilled thieves can do that with a battery powered saw in less than 30 seconds, there's been more than enough videos on youtube showing just how easy it is. Cheap battery powered tools have made a lot of crime a hell of a lot easier.

Just wait for the drones that bring the saw and haul away the converter.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#88

Post by asadotzler »

huytersd wrote: post #16
imglorp wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few guys with plasma cutters and a winch could have that pieced and loaded on a flatbed in no time.

Not easily. Those metal tension cables are dangerous to cut and it’s going to have to fall like a tree in some direction.

My tower has 8 guy wires and each is easily released from the ground with hand tools.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#89

Post by asadotzler »

jack_riminton wrote: post #44

My BS detector is going off on this. It's such a monumental effort for what would quickly become pretty worthless scrap

Someone who needs a 200' self-supporting tower. Getting one from Rohn is probably $15,000 to $20,000 and more than half that used. I've been shopping towers for several years and when I read the headline my first thought was "yeah, Starlink needs a clear view of the sky" not "some meth head tryin' to sell steel for scrap."

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#90

Post by 0cf8612b2e1e »

huytersd wrote: post #65
marcosdumay wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Metal thieves are not known for following strict workplace safety protocols.

Sure, but if you’ve ever been around high tension mental cables before you’ll realize you need a huge pair of balls to cut those. It’s not safety protocols, it’s fear that it might cut you in half.

Actually, as I learned from MythBusters, a wire snap will be unable to server a limb or worse. You will still be dead, but your body will be intact.

https://mythresults.com/episode62

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