Thanks for Stealing my Downspout
The scrap metal bandits recently crossed a line with me, personally, by taking a tin downspout off my garage. Just because it’s facing the alley, doesn’t mean it’s up for grabs. With all the rain lately, I wound up with a lot of water in my garage as a result. It’s hard for me to come down too hard on these folks, because my wife has a serious hobby/business rehabbing old furniture, much of which is left sitting by the supercans in Richmond’s alleys. So, I’m not suggesting anyone call 911 anytime someone is seen picking through alley trash. But, things are getting kind of out of hand.
I’m sure there are multiple scrap metal scavengers scouring the neighborhood, but one of them stopped the other day when I was letting my kids run in a friend’s yard in Lakeview. She (it was a couple driving a pick-up) wanted to know if I was using that stroller sitting there on the sidewalk (not the alley, mind you) and if not, could she just throw it on the back of the truck… I gave her my best “Are you f—ing crazy” face and she got back in the truck.
Does anybody else have any stories like these, or better yet, solutions?
Take property crime more seriously.
Illegal graffiti is not ‘art’.
Stealing downspouts is more than ‘scavenging’.
Call the police and support their efforts to help citizens. It’s one thing to be an anti-poverty, pro-democracy activist, its another to be part of or tolerate sociopathic problems like this crap.
I live in Southbank near Westover Hills. On trash day there is a regular scrapper who scours the neighborhood for items. He’s even got a jack bolted to the bed of his truck so he can lift heavy items in there solo. I’ve also personally witnessed and HVAC unit being stolen from a foreclosed home and came out one morning to have my neighbors empty house have the same thing happen. Although it is supposedly against code, I went ahead and threw a lock on the junction box to mine so if they ever try to take it they’ll get a good dose of A/C current first.
Anon: It’s a shame you don’t feel comfortable putting your name on comments where you make disparaging comments toward community bloggers.
The couple in the truck is pretty well known around the byrd park area, along with a couple other guys who do scrapping. i personally am not against the scrap people, and i think that can be valuable to beatifying the city since the average citizen trashes it. But some of those people DO steal your stuff from inside fences etc.. if you leave it in the alley and it’s not attached to your house I think it’s fair game.
Obviously your downspout qualifies as attached to your house.
Sorry if I sounded disparaging. Its more about strong advice. I don’t want to use my name because I don’t care to be targeted – again.
Yeah. I kinda like the scavengers who pick up my discarded broken dishwasher etc and save me a trip to the dump. That being said if someone took my downspout I’d be angry and call the police so they can be on the lookout. Next time it might not just be a downspout.