Plumbing parts new target for area metal thefts

BARSTOW — Police and plumbing contractors say that in recent months metal thieves in Barstow have turned to a new target.

Stolen backflow prevention devices are turning up with increasing frequency in area scrap metal yards.

State law requires most commercial buildings to install the devices, which are usually made out of brass and sit above ground, as a means of keeping nonpotable water out of the city drinking water system. With copper wiring and piping, once popular theft targets, becoming scarcer, thieves have turned to the backflow preventers as a new source of scrap metal.

The Barstow Police Department did not know the exact number of thefts, but city spokesman John Rader said police have noticed a spike in the backflow prevention device thefts in the past three months. Among the victims that reported thefts to the Barstow Police Department were area apartment complexes, Barstow Community College and several city parks. Andy Ziemer, owner of Ziemer Plumbing in Barstow, said he has heard of eight thefts in the past six months.

The thieves take a $300 brass valve, cause an average $2,000 in damages and sell the part to a scrap yard for about $30, according to Rader.

When the Desert Cities Dialysis clinic was hit, cutting off the building’s water supply, Ziemer said, that could have been a matter of life and death.

“It could have been a catastrophe if it was a day when they were seeing patients,” he said. “This is way beyond the call of duty. For $25, they’re putting lives in danger.”

In late fall 2007, about a month after Barstow School District had installed a new backflow device for the irrigation system in the park adjacent to Lenwood Elementary School, thieves drove onto the lot, hooked the backflow device up to a chain, and dragged it out with a pickup truck. The theft left water spurting for several hours before a maintenance person discovered it the next morning, said Barstow School District maintenance and operations director Joe Fink.

“We had quite a flood the next day,” Fink said.

The theft occurred about four months ago. Rather than spend $1,000 or more to replace the backflow preventer immediately, the district elected to wait until spring.

Although the backflow devices are mandated by the state to preserve water health standards, Golden State Water Co. operations superintendent Jesse Ramirez said the public’s health has not been affected by the disconnected backflow prevention devices. Service men are on call 24 hours a day to deal with water emergencies, he said.

“The one that’s affected the most is the consumer,” he said.

Dennis Haefele, owner of Heart Plumbing, places the blame for the epidemic with the scrap yards that buy stolen goods.

“If there wasn’t an easy way for (the thieves) to dispose of it and make money, they wouldn’t do it,” he said. “The people that are buying it create the market.”

Barstow Police Department constantly monitors the scrap metal yards and contacts them when they receive a report of stolen metal, Rader said, which has led to some property being recovered in the past. If caught, scrap metal thieves face felony charges for possession of stolen property and potential vandalism charges, which are also felony charges if the damage totals more than $400.

Maria Gomez, office secretary at the headquarters of Central Metal, Inc., which runs a scrap yard in Hinkley, said the company requires all sellers to show identification and in some cases, a company letter authorizing them to sell the metal.

Gomez acknowledged, however, that stolen property does slip through.

“It’s very hard,” she said. “There’s a lot of people that just do it all the time.”

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