[ARCHIVED THREAD] - BOL robbed! (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/4/2007 8:19:31 PM EDT
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I have a rural property with solar power and generator back up. The local dope heads stripped all the copper out of the place. They even took the battery connects and gutted the solar controls. They didn't get all of the copper gas line so I think they will be back. I moved the generator. I would like to set up some kind of video system to catch the bastards. Any ideas! |
| stop by all of the local scrap yards and describe to them what was taken. there's a good chance that they wont give a rat's ass, and hell, some of them may have been the ones doing the taking for all you know, but you may end up getting some info on the thieves if you find an honest guy working at one of the yards. |
Thieves tend to get off on the addrenline rush as much as the money they get. Though I hve been a target for years, sadly only once I got to give them more addreniline rush than they expected. Though quite scary for me at the time, it was quite the satisfying experinece afterwards. Rural thieves are the worst for they tend to belive they can take thier time due to location. It is about the only enviroment I often recommend silent burglar alarms with direct calling. Mostly in the city they down't work since the thieves time response times and get out fast. Hell a rural crook will work at it all damn day even eating and drinking your supplies. Makes em feel big taking thier time. BTW, copper thieves are typically drunks or druggies looking for their next supply. They are typically quite known in the area. Once you know who, it's easy to either confront, non-hostile simply asking them if they know anything is enough to get them off your back for they will suspect you suspect. It aslo gives you ideas how to nail them. Tj |
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Sorry about your BOL, We had some asshole steal the well pump (handpump right off the well at our northern BOL two years ago. I was so pissed, it left our well completely open and contaminated it. I know how you feel. Since then we put up 6 hidden digital trail cams in pine trees with solar powered battery backup and 1 gig memory cards so the next time we will have proof of who did it. We where pretty sure it was some local slug that took the pump. Check into trail cams. KDX |
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Sorry about your BOL, We had some asshole steal the well pump (handpump right off the well at our northern BOL two years ago. I was so pissed, it left our well completely open and contaminated it. I know how you feel. Since then we put up 6 hidden digital trail cams in pine trees with solar powered battery backup and 1 gig memory cards so the next time we will have proof of who did it. We where pretty sure it was some local slug that took the pump. Check into trail cams. KDX |
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Im having major issues with the meth heads and homeless here in phoenix stealing the copper out of my light rail station foundations Im building. So far im guessing we've had about 15k in damages (material and labor to replace it) Ive been temped to sit on sit with my AR in a gilli suit to try and catch the bastids... the project manager doesnt want me shootin anyone though |
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Don't waste your time with deer cameras. Go to http://www.supercircuits.com/ This is the company that we use in law enforcement. I have used their equipment to set up everything from interview rooms to covert battery operated in car camera systems to record drug deals. They are located in Round Rock, TX. Make sure to set up your camers to catch incoming car plates. You may want to set up a laser beam on the incoming road to trip lights that will scare intruders off while video taping cars and people who set off the lights. Other than that you just need to make your stuff hard to get to. When the meth heads are in need of money they will go for the easiest stuff to steal. You want to make yours hard to get to. They are out for easy money, not money they have to work for. Good luck. |
| just go stay at the bol for a few days if there is enough equip left for sustainment; then when the sticky fingers come back, have "insert favorite firearm here" waitin for them and tell them their options; or if they break in -- shoot them on site -- at least if you have make my day laws or a castle doctrine in your state. |
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Good stuff Davis... Who ever said cameras dont work, needs to rethink things. Cumberland: Not only would I check into the cams that Davis suggested, I may also look into fake video cams...The last thing a theif wants is his face being recorded and I'd bet a weeks pay that if you installed some of these things around camp, maybe up on a pole somewhere, with that little red LED light flashing on them, your little losers would find someplace else to ransack... Just a thought Crpdeth |
that's exactly what I was thinking. No civil emergency and you've already got looting problems? Sounds like somebody needs to evaluate how good a location his BOL is in. |
| Depneding on how far your BOL is from your home. If you have a large dog it may be a good idea to let him stay out there from time to time for a night or two. Especillay if he is trained as a gaurd dog. You can get a wireless pet fence so you woul dnot have to worry about him running off if you train him with the fence. You could get a trined gaurd dog if you do not have one. You will need to check on it and spend time with it everyday though, so if your BOL is to far out this may not be an option for you. |
set some booby traps and you'll be the one going to jail, while they get the title to your property. |
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Question for you guys advocating trail cams. It's my understanding these devices flash in order to take a pic? What would you do to prevent them from simply being stolen as well? Thanks, this is of interest to me since we are planning on a second BOL so one would be unoccupied some of the time. Thx, Tj |
Some do, some don't. Most don't during the day, but the sound of the film advancing is a big tip-off. I want to get one of the IR digital ones. No flash, no auto-advance winder. |
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I want to set up some type of hidden surviellance system to catch them in the act. I've also considered posting a reward in the local news paper, in the hope that one dopehead would turn the other in for a couple hundred bucks. At this point it is less about the money lost and more about catching the snakes. I would not do anything illegal to get myself into trouble. I have too many positive things going on in my life to throw it all away over some low life thief. The "neighbor" is already in so much trouble that a B&E would probably not mean much to him but it would be nice to mail all of his neighbors and family a nice 8 x 10 of him caught in the act. I'm working on getting a renter out there now. |
| If it's possible. Set up the camera in such a fashion that it will catch them driving by the most likely area of approach. Like take the camera a little out and set it facing the house, so when they drive by you get the license plate and/or face shots. Good luck with catching them. |
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Hiding your important goods is a great remedy. Build a shed with a sub floor. It's amazing how many guns you can put in an old couch frame etc. Put valuables in the attic covered with a few inches of insulation. Thieves don't want to search for things. They'll move on to easier targets. Being friendly to the neighbors has helped my situation with a BOL/ hunting cabin. Knock on wood. The important stuff is stashed though. No break ins ......yet knock on wood. A friend had a cabin that would always get broken into, the thieves would leave notes like, "Leave better food next time." 
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My Cams are all IR so no flash or whining noise, also because they are digital, they don't make any film advancing (motor drive) noise. The 1 gig memory card hold 100's of photos and the fact that they are powerd with small solar panels and dry lead acid batteries they take photos until the memory card is full. We hide ours pretty high above eye level in pine trees with great success. We recently got photos of a local asshole poking around the property. our property is posted, so we called the local State Police and showed them the photos, they confronted and arrested the guy for trespassing. KDX |
Would you mind sharing the make and model number? I am very interested in this kind of setup. Thanks very much, Mark |
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Walmart offers a few different trail cams and my cabelas catalog also has some higher end trail cams. I don't know the brands but you check both out on the net and go from there. Some of the nicer ones with quality night capability can cost 3 or 4 hundred I think. |
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The crack heads are stealing copper pipes and wires out of houses that are for sale around here. They go in to houses that are vacant and for sale, steal the pipes and leave while the water is running into the basement. Several realtors have shown up to homes that are flooded. Last year when I was building my house, They stole a bunch of toilets, sinks, faucets, etc. that was waiting to be installed by the builder. Not to mention my lawn mower. AMAZINGLY the stuff was all taken the DAY BEFORE my alarm system was to be activated. Seems kinda like an inside job to me.  |
| I have a Moultrie digital trail cam. Works OK, but uses a 6 volt battery. I turned the flash off, and it usually takes about 175 pics before the battery is dead, about 1 day. I tried a rechargable battery and solar charger with lousy results. These cost about $100, and I would recommend spending a little more for better quality. The ones mentioned above for $3-400 are probably Cuddeback, and from what I hear, are worth the extra money. You can get something in between for $2-250, but I'm not sure if those have IR or not. The Cuddebacks do. |
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Sorry to hear about your BOL. It isn't likely it was robbed. Robbery is by definition a larceny accomplished by the use or threat of force against the person. You can't "rob" a building. It sounds like it was burglarized. Watch the booby traps. In most states it is a felony to set a "spring gun", which means a firearm set up as a booby trap. |
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I used to work metal/scrap thefts and these cases all have a common denominator. The thief has to find a recycler to sell his product to. Scrap yards in our area started helping us out after it was made clear to them that they could be held criminally liable for receiving stolen property if they showed a pattern of buying stolen metals/scrap. The scrap yards started requiring ID's from all sellers and keeping detailed records on the kind and ammout of scrap taken in. Their help allowed us to figure out who the legitatmate "scrappers" were as opposed to the theives and zero in on them. Make sure to report it to the local PD or SO. As severall others here have pointed out, you will always have this problem with cabins or property if no one is on site. You might also want to go to your local scrap yards and see if they could help. Cameras sound good, but I would be willing to bet they will get stolen too. |
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They sell for a couple hundred dollars each, but they sell claymore mines in the paintball world, they act the same as claymores (paintmore) but they explode paintballs instead of explosives. So tell the local copper guy the next guy that comes in with green paint on his face is ripping you off. Also, make up serial numbers and go harass the local copper guy, tell him your piping had a number on it every 20ft, most of these guys are knowingly buying stolen materials, when he no longer wants to buy stuff from your property the thugs will stop stealing from it or take it else where. |
I would not suggest making up some lie to tell the local salvage guy. Do you really think that a guy who's job is buying salvage will not easily see this as BS and call you on it? |
| I think the copper guy will view the victim as someone who is trying to locate the criminal or least reduce the chances of being a victim again. A good friend of mine has a welding shop and had success recovering a stolen welding unit simply by asking a few questions and being persistent. The thieves number 1 favor is that most will turn their loss over to thier insurance company and forget about it. |
IMHO the copper salvage guy will be more likely to see you as a victim looking for a criminal if you come to him and tell him the truth, not some BS story about having serial numbers on copper pipe. |
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I reported it but, I don't expect anything out of it. This is a very rural area, everyone knows everyone and the scrap yard folks know the thieves. As far as I'm concerned the scrap yard owners should be investigated for recieving stolen property. I'm working on a solution for monitoring the situation. I'll keep you guys informed. |