Crime & Safety

Thousands of Pounds of Copper Stolen from Atlanta Mission Building

The following information was supplied by the Atlanta police department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.

At least $90,000 in damages was caused to a vacant building at Atlanta Mission @ The Carpenter's House sometime since Nov. 30.

The staff of the facility reported to Atlanta police on Dec. 5 that the building is vacant and utilities have been off since September. But at 9 a.m. they discovered a sizeable hole in the front building wall. Items had been taken from the building for at least five weeks, but they waited until major copper and plumbing thefts were committed to call police.

One of the rear doors of the 1,000 square foot building was taped to allow access to the building.

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Significant interior and exterior wall and equipment damage was done to the building. Nine compressor units on the roof had been stripped of copper. They estimated 3,000 pounds of copper had been taken and at least $10,000 in damages to each unit. Copper tubing had been removed throughout the building also.

More than $5,000 in Cash Stolen from Grocery Store, ATM

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 The Mercado Acapulco Grocery Store was broken into sometime before it opened on Dec. 2, and cash was taken from a floor safe and an ATM inside the store.

Atlanta police responded to the commercial burglary call at 2179 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE, to learn that the business owner discovered the front glass and metal frame entry doors had been pried open. The floor safe had been pulled out and pried open to take approximately $2,500 in cash.

An ATM inside the store also had been pried open, and its owner said approximately $2,500 in cash was taken from it also. And a second business inside the store, a cell phone sales business separated by a sliding metal accordion style door and padlock, also was subjected to the burglary. The padlock was cut off and its floor safe also had been pulled out and pried open. However, this business owner said very little money was inside the safe, but he was missing several cell phones from a glass display case that had been locked.

Wires from surveillance cameras at the store had been cut and a hole had been cut in the chain link fence surrounding the rear store entrance. Wires also were cut from the telephone box outside and also cable and other lines running into the store. Two crowbars were found in the back of the store, along with a pair of wire cutters. Fingerprints were taken from various places in the store.

  

Store Owner Learns This time it Wasn't a False Alarm

A business owner who had heard many false alarms at his store made the mistake of cancelling an alarm call at 3:21 a.m. on Dec. 2.

When the store owner got a call from an employee at 7:25 a.m., he learned his busines was the victim of a burglary.

A suspect made a large hole in the rear wall of the business to gain entry. An ATM was destroyed to get $2,000 in cash and $9,000 was taken from a cash drawer.

Power was cut to the business once the suspect gained entry, so security cameras were not working during the burglary. 


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