Salvage Yards Catching On To Crooks Trying To Cash In On Stolen Property
By: Marlisa Goldsmith
Updated: April 25, 2012
Pine Street Salvage, a place where many truck drivers swap their metal scraps for cash, but when crooks get the same idea, businesses like this often end up as crime scenes.
"It does happen often."
Juan Keeling is a metal processor at Pine Street Salvage.
He personally handles scraps when they are brought to the yard to be sold.
He says, "There's all kinds of things. Anything that's metallic, with precious metals, which is your copper, aluminum, brass, mostly copper."
Keeling lists the most common stolen items that people bring in order to get some quick cash, a crime that he says is on the rise.
"People are looking for scrap metals, and going through alleys, and stealing because of the economy," Keeling says.
For that reason, salvage yards have to keep a close eye out for thieves bringing in stolen goods and make sure the metal they are buying does not belong to someone else.
Keeling says, "People usually call up here before that time before they bring it and we try to look out for it."
However, if the company does not get a warning, and the items look at all suspicious, they take precaution to help residents protect their goods.
"We write it down. We have cameras here so we take a picture of it and all that, so if somebody calls us, we look into it further and then we call the authorities," says Keeling.
"It does happen often."
Juan Keeling is a metal processor at Pine Street Salvage.
He personally handles scraps when they are brought to the yard to be sold.
He says, "There's all kinds of things. Anything that's metallic, with precious metals, which is your copper, aluminum, brass, mostly copper."
Keeling lists the most common stolen items that people bring in order to get some quick cash, a crime that he says is on the rise.
"People are looking for scrap metals, and going through alleys, and stealing because of the economy," Keeling says.
For that reason, salvage yards have to keep a close eye out for thieves bringing in stolen goods and make sure the metal they are buying does not belong to someone else.
Keeling says, "People usually call up here before that time before they bring it and we try to look out for it."
However, if the company does not get a warning, and the items look at all suspicious, they take precaution to help residents protect their goods.
"We write it down. We have cameras here so we take a picture of it and all that, so if somebody calls us, we look into it further and then we call the authorities," says Keeling.
