Dickinson copper theft case arrest

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An 18-year-old Dickinson man has been arrested in connection to a rash of copper thefts in the city over the summer, according to the Dickinson Police Department.

Christopher Slocum faces seven counts of possessing stolen copper, which he sold on different occasions for about $4,070, according to a criminal complaint.

Within the last eight months DPD has seen several instances of copper stolen from three local businesses, said Detective Kylan Klauzer.

“The market value is very good, so a lot of these people who maybe have experience in working around copper they know that it does have some value to it,” he said.

Jeannie Seibel of Continental Metal Products in Dickinson said until Monday, the price of copper was at about $2.75 a pound.

“I think why (people are stealing) copper is because it’s one of the more pricy metals per pound,” she said.

Seibel said the price has been about the same all summer until it dropped about 30 cents this week.

Continental Metal has been receiving a lot of copper from oil and construction businesses lately, Seibel said.

She has worked at the business for about nine years and said the highest she’s ever seen copper is $4 a pound and the lowest at about $1.75. The price is continuously fluctuating, she added.

Stark County Sheriff Detective Terry Oestreich said there was a copper theft near Interstate 94 reported earlier this summer.

A “significant amount,” was taken but he declined to say how much.

“Copper is reasonably dense, not nearly like lead, but it’s a

fairly heavy metal so it doesn’t take a lot to make 100 pounds and if it’s $3 or $4 a pound, it’s a pretty lucrative business to steal copper and sell it,” Oestreich said. “Last fall, I also had a case, and that individual was charged and convicted.”

Klauzer said he has two open cases

Tags: dickinson police department, news, copper, theft