"Couple Sentenced For Stealing SEPTA Overhead Wires In Montgomery County"

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

 

SEPTA is the SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - this happened in the northern suburbs just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA:

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/07/13/couple-sentenced-for-stealing-septa-overhead-wires-in-montco/

What no one seems to understand is why they were sentenced to pay only US$100,000 in restituion, after causing more than US$1.5 million in damages ?!? 

Not mentioned at all is what scrap dealer(s) they sold it to, and whether he/ it/ they are being prosecuted, etc. 

- Paul North.

[henry6]

I agree the sentencing and fine seem light compared to the millions in damage. But.  The pair apparently don't have the money.  It would probalbly cost more to prove and prosecute.  It could be that there is insurance that covers the loss in someway.  The insurance company could also be out for the rest in otherways.  And, my pet peeve, we go after drug dealers but they keep on raking in the bucks...why aren't we doing more to remove the drug market..i.e., users or buyers?   If they were taken off drugs, removed from the buying cycle, before getting so desperate as to steal copper, ...well, this is a railroad rant page not a drug user rant page. 

[DwightBranch]

henry6

I agree the sentencing and fine seem light compared to the millions in damage. But.  The pair apparently don't have the money.  It would probalbly cost more to prove and prosecute.  It could be that there is insurance that covers the loss in someway.  The insurance company could also be out for the rest in otherways.  And, my pet peeve, we go after drug dealers but they keep on raking in the bucks...why aren't we doing more to remove the drug market..i.e., users or buyers?   If they were taken off drugs, removed from the buying cycle, before getting so desperate as to steal copper, ...well, this is a railroad rant page not a drug user rant page. 

 

There are many political leaders in Latin America who agree with you, Mexico has seen something like 80k murders in the past few years related to the marijuana trade, almost all of it destined for the US.

[Firelock76]

I agree with Henry6 this is a railroad rant page and not a political rant page, but Mexico and it's problems?  Look, Mexico is corrupt.  It was corrupt under the Mayans, it was corrupt under the Aztecs, (you don't think Cortez could have taken the country with less than 1,000 men without a lot of local help, do you?  The other Indians were fed up with Aztec rule), then it was corrupt under the Spanish and now it's corrupt under their own governance.  Sorry if I offended anyone but it's true, and we all know it.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

OK, can we now get back to ranting about railroads and people who steal things from them, etc. ? 

(To meet you guys halfway, I'll concede that thefts from Mexican railroads are a fair topic for discussion.) 

[RESUME SPEED]

- Paul North. 

[samfp1943]

henry6

I agree the sentencing and fine seem light compared to the millions in damage. But.  The pair apparently don't have the money.  It would probalbly cost more to prove and prosecute.  It could be that there is insurance that covers the loss in someway.  The insurance company could also be out for the rest in otherways.  And, my pet peeve, we go after drug dealers but they keep on raking in the bucks...why aren't we doing more to remove the drug market..i.e., users or buyers?   If they were taken off drugs, removed from the buying cycle, before getting so desperate as to steal copper, ...well, this is a railroad rant page not a drug user rant page. 

IF there was an Insurance Company involved they might go after the thieves through the process of subrogation.  . It would be a healthy message to the dealers in scrap to make sure that the railroad scrap they buy is legit.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/subrogation

[blownout cylinder]

Paul_D_North_Jr

OK, can we now get back to ranting about railroads and people who steal things from them, etc. ? 

(To meet you guys halfway, I'll concede that thefts from Mexican railroads are a fair topic for discussion.) 

[RESUME SPEED]

- Paul North. 

Don't get me started on stealing transformers and such....

[zugmann]

blownout cylinder

 

 

 

Don't get me started on stealing transformers and such....

Hmmm...

 

[blownout cylinder]

[rdamon]

Now if they had been injured during the theft I bet they would already have a lawsuit filed.

- Robert

 

[tree68]

Methinks a problem with the scrap dealers (the dishonest version) is that they know they can pay the thieves a fraction of what the scrap is actually worth, then get paid what it's really worth because it's now been "laundered," perhaps even changed in form.  The thieves don't care because they still get enough money for their next fix/hit/etc.

Touching the drug problem just once more - the problem isn't the dealers at any level - they are simply selling a product that's in demand.  And I haven't a clue how to erase that demand.  At least nothing that's legal...

I will agree that the sentence seems slight - but you can't get blood out of a stone.  Folks like these have no money and no assets.

[rdamon]

When I worked for a telecommunications company with railroad roots .. We had an incident in L.A. where one of the man holes was opened up that contained ~150' of fiber optic cable in a slack spool. Slack cable is common along fiber routes to provide for future splice points or to allow for the line to be relocated without breaking the cable.

After the thieves cut the cable as far down as possible they then realized that there was no copper inside and left it laying on the road. I am sure the final bill for repairs and lost revenue approached $500k.

A new law went into effect on July 1st in Georgia to tighten up the regulations on the scrap metal industry.

http://www.recyclingtoday.com/georgia-anti-theft-bill.aspx

-Robert

 

[narig01]

zugmann

 

blownout cylinder:

 

 

 

 

Don't get me started on stealing transformers and such....

 

 

Hmmm...

 

Good

[narig01]

  Oh yea the comment I was going to make

NYCTA has specified for all wire purchases that their wire would be imprinted with their logo. Possession by other parties is now punishable by law.

Rgds IGN

[ccltrains]

We, like the rest of the country, have a problem with copper thefts in Texas.  Most new houses are built with plastic plumbing to limit  thievery.  One thing Texas has done is passing a law dealing with used copper sales.  The scrap dealers must get positive ID of the seller and keep the copper segregated for a period of time so the wronged party could reclaim his stolen property.  Not a perfect system, but it is a step in stopping thefts.

[henry6]

I remember back in the CR and even EL days, it was almost good to have thieves steal copper wires.  Evidently schematics and diagrams were long gone so when a storm hit or wire was stolen it was how they discovered what the wires were for: which signals circuits, even what old telephone and telegraph circuits, still existed and needed to be replaced.

 

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

The Reading RR - at least in this area - still kept their signal and circuit diagrams up-to-date, so it didn't have to depend on the 'benevolence' of theives to help keep track of their circuits.  Even through the Conrail era, the plans were maintained as current by changing them in pencil on old prints, until they were transferred to a CAD drawing file.

- Paul North.  

[henry6]

Well, the EL didn't.  I know that there was a gon parked at the Binghamton station baggage room door and "stuff" was being carted out of the building and thrown into the car. I put my hands up and caught a few things in mid air bur had only a Ford Escort so couldn't save much.  A few days after that I got a call from NJ that the same thing was happening at Hoboken and that very little was able to be saved.  This was just before CR.  Up until the recent single tracking of the ST line west of BInghamton downed or clipped wires revealed circuits to NS!