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Copper Thieves Hit San Juan Unified School, Tenth Since January

CARMICHAEL (CBS13) – Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies are searching for two would-be copper thieves who were interrupted mid-crime by a neighbor who scared them off as they cut through conduit at a Carmichael school overnight.

Deputies were called to Albert Schweitzer Elementary School last night. 

A neighbor walking his dog on campus early in the morning may have kept the would-be thieves from a sizeable haul.

"His dog started barking. They heard some banging, metal clanging, footsteps running off through the school," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Todd Hoganson.

Despite being scared off before they could steal too much copper, they did some major damage to the school as they went after the electrical wiring at the school.

"When I see a job like this, this is not juveniles, this is someone who's in the trade who knows what they're doing," said San Juan Unified School District maintenance supervisor Bob Davis. "This is not the first time our district's been hit."

In fact it is the tenth time the district's been hit just since January.  And Davis says he's had enough of the repair bills.

"And this is money we do not have in order to spend," said Davis. "This is money we need to spend on our kids and on our schools."

The district-wide damage tally from copper thieves now sits at $100,000.   Most of it is covered by insurance but not all.

The school is reviewing its surveillance footage.  The witness heard two people leaving the scene but didn't get a look at either of them.

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