KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thieves ripping copper out of residential air-conditioning units for some quick cash is nothing new, but experts warn that crooks have moved on to taking the whole thing as manufacturers engineered tamper-proof designs.
"Most of the thieves will grab them and run," CCI Securities owner LC Lomax told 41 Action News. "It only takes 20 seconds to steal a unit."
That has kept Lomax, who builds and installs cages for AC units, busy the day before the summer solstice.
"Unfortunately, some of these guys are HVAC-certified," Lomax said. "You'll see some of the units that have been stolen and it's so clean and pristine, because if you try to resell the units, which some of them do, you have to cut it in a certain way."
Lomax said thieves can get about $500 for a stolen unit compared to the roughly $65 they'd get for the copper alone.
"Most people don't notice the units are gone until they go to turn the AC on in the summer time," Lomax said.
One Midtown Kansas City resident made just such a discovery Monday night when she realized one of her two units was gone.
"They used bolt cutters on the copper line and took the connection point out, so they wouldn't electrocute themselves and took off with it," said the woman, who didn't want to be identified because the suspect or suspects haven't been caught.
Replacing the stolen AC unit wasn't cheap. It cost her about $3,000, which will be offset a bit thanks to insurance. She also decided to cage both units on her concrete slab.
"The concrete slab is the best way to go, so that way there's so much weight involved that the thief can't pick up the cage or the slab at the same time," Lomax said.
Lomax showed 41 Action News a variety of ways to secure an AC unit from thieves, including mounting it off the ground and onto the foundation wall.
He said locks also can be a critical component in making thieves think twice before targeting your unit.
"If they can lock the disconnect box, where the electrical is, that will keep the thief from being able to turn off the electrical." Lomax said. "That way they can't cut it with bolt cutters."
On average, AC cages cost between $300 and $500, which may seem like a lot but it's far less than replacing a stolen unit.
