Copper Thieves Caught In The Act At Strip Mall In Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Thieves were caught in the act stealing copper from a strip mall in North Highlands.

An employee getting to work a little early today saw the suspects on top of a roof and called police.

"In this neighborhood, we've had drugs, we've had taggings. We've had our own HVAC unit stolen," said Dennis Funkhouser, who works nearby.

Now, Funkhouser had an alleged crime unfold right before his eyes. He arrived to work this morning at work before seven at Capitol Funding in North Highlands and noticed a car backed in at the strip mall next door. It was suspicious enough for Dennis to call the cops.

"Ray Sebastian got here and decided we should call the non-emergency number, and in the middle of that call, we saw pieces being thrown off the roof," said Funkhouser

Pieces from the commercial a/c units made of copper were tossed down where a woman loaded the coils into her trunk, say deputies. Minutes later, she was caught while her alleged accomplice squeezed through a hole cut in the chain link fence and ran into the neighborhood off Watt Avenue.

"They picked an area where they could back their car in; didn't expect the business next door to be open and people to be here," said Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Shane Gregory.

The property manager had to break the bad news to tenants in the building that there probably wouldn't be air conditioning or heat for a couple of weeks.

All of the copper was recovered.

Deputies say they've identified the man who remains on the loose.