Copper prices hit three-year high; Columbia elementary school targeted

When the price of copper goes up, the Boone County Sheriff’s Department advises, so does the trend in copper thefts.

According to NASDAQ data, copper prices have seen a large increase since 2015 and 2016. As of Tuesday, the price of copper is at $3.10 per pound, compared to January of 2015, when prices were around $2.50. In January of 2016, copper was around $2.10.

Boone County Sheriff Detective Tom O’Sullivan told ABC 17 News that typically copper thefts will happen in rural areas, abandoned homes and construction sites.

Just recently, in late August, Two Mile Prairie Elementary School had copper wires, electronics and cameras stolen from the property overnight. O’Sullivan said it’s rare that copper thefts happen at a school but due to the school’s location, it can lure in criminals.

“Typically those (copper thefts) have (been) confined to rural and remote areas. We will see a lot of abandoned properties or vacant properties,” O’Sullivan said.

The loss at the elementary school totaled approximately $6,000 for the stolen property and damage.

O’Sullivan told ABC 17 News there hasn’t been a rash of thefts reported in the county.