Thieves use bulldozer to dig copper from southeast Houston park

(12/28/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- A park in southeast Houston is the latest target of copper thieves.

Someone used a chain and a bulldozer to steal 2,400 feet of buried copper lines from the Blackhawk sports complex on Fuqua. Those lines were supposed to serve as the facility's main power source.

"It makes me angry and frustrated," said Jeremy Ward with the South Belt Youth Football League. "To see that somebody would stoop to that level to tear down something that somebody is trying to put together for the kids of the community."

Replacing the copper wiring and repairing the damage will cost the park nearly $50,000. Houston city council is already working on a plan to stop copper thieves, in part, by making it tougher to sell scrap metal to dealers. A proposed ordinance calls for strict record-keeping by scrap metal dealers, surveillance video of all transactions and fingerprint impressions. A vote on the ordinance is pending.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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