Madison scrap firm employee leads to the arrest of copper thieves

MADISON (Scrap Monster): The timely act by metal recycling firm employee led to the arrest of two copper thieves at Madison’s Far East Side.

The two persons Thomas King, 51, DeForest, and Rodney Wipperfurth, 39, Fitchburg were taken into police custody. According to police, they would be charged with burglary and selling stolen property.

Hooper Corp. had informed police and metal recycling companies in the area about theft of copper pipe worth nearly $1,500 from their construction site in 4600 block of Eastpark Boulevard.

The incident took place early morning Tuesday at Alter Metal Recycling, 4400 Sycamore Ave. The two men approached the scrap recycling facility with copper pipes. The employee at the facility found identifying marks which confirmed that the pipes belonged to Hooper Corp. The employee soon informed police and tactfully stalled the two men until the police arrived.

The Madison police commended the efforts of the employee. According to Hooper, nearly $10,000 worth copper pipes has been stolen from the site during the past few months.

The police urged the co-operation of scrap metal firms and construction companies in the region to crack down on the copper thieves.