One person has been arrested in the theft of copper pipe from three air conditioner units at Beyond The Blue Box.
But the damage estimate to repair the three units is approximately $15,000.
Executive Director of Beyond The Blue Box, Jane Stevenson said staff first noticed on Wednesday, July 10, 2019 that it was “extremely hot” in both buildings operated by Beyond the Blue Box on Covert Street.
After investigating, it was quickly determined that all three units had been damaged and copper piping removed.
Police were immediately notified and on Thursday, staff at Beyond the Blue Box looked through security video and spotted two suspects with the copper wire on July 8 (between 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.) and gave police images of the suspects.
One suspect was arrested on Thursday, July 11, 2019 and the second suspect is outstanding.
The security video shows a number of different angles of the suspects with the copper piping and walking east along Covert Street carrying the piping.
Each of the three units are approximately two years old have to be fully replaced as the compressors were operating without coolant for several hours before it was noticed.
“It’s mind boggling to think someone would take that much time to scale your roof and steal $30 worth of copper, inconvenience the entire community and in particular our people with disabilities.”
Stevenson said four staff members with disabilities could not attend work because of breathing issues with the heat inside the buildings and another had to go home on Thursday.
“They (air conditioning units) really did make a difference for everybody. Not just our staff, our volunteers, but for the community. Because people from the community would be able to come in and get cool as well.”
Beyond the Blue Box started in 1992 and is a registered charity.
Some of their staff are people with developmental disabilities. Beyond the Blue Box also diverts from landfills.
This year they gave four, $1,000 scholarships to people who are entering the developmental social field or the environmental field.
Stevenson added her gratitude with the response and quick arrest from Cobourg Police.
“It’s a pleasure that we are able to rely on our frontline police officers to come to our aid when we need them.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
