When the Copper Thief Is Caught

Over the decades, we have reported on many despicable crimes. None are any worse than the next if you happen to be the unfortunate victim of any one.
The relatively recent spate of copper thefts is at once damnable and, perhaps, one of the lowest forms of theft. If once there had been “honor among thieves,” that last bastion of chivalry has been lost.
There is a person, who certainly will not be reading these words, who stole copper pipes from a small Episcopal church in Villas. The tally for that theft was estimated at about $1,000 by Lower Township police and church officials. With deductibles on its insurance policy, the church was out $500 as its deductible.
We can only hope that the thief, who crawled like a snake under the beams that support the church to do the dastardly act, did not also partake of the free dinner at the church on that Thursday night.
You see, that little mission on West Bates Avenue has, since 1954, been a place where poor, weary souls could find respite. After its long-serving vicar Rev. William Shelton passed on after 40 years in the service of the people, the congregation dwindled. It always happens in a church when a long-time, popular cleric departs, for whatever reason, that there are those among the faithful who can’t abide change, so they leave and move to another house of worship.
So it has been with St. Barnabas By-the-Bay. Once best known for its famed art class, the creation of the late reverend, and the annual display of its artists’ works, the church members looked around, and saw poverty abounding in the community.
Thus, it began a food pantry, to help feed those in need. Along with that, it holds a free Thursday dinner on the fourth Thursday of each month. Both of those activities are aimed to help without question those who cross its threshold.
I failed to note that the copper theft took place on Holy Week. Sometime between the evening of March 27 and March 28, Maundy Thursday, let us say there as a recreation of Scripture on that holy evening. At that time, Satan entered the thief and inspired the resulting action.
The theft was not realized until a congregant went to the bathroom in the morning, and there was no water where it ought to have been. Subsequently, the plumber was summoned and the unconscionable act was discovered.
Probably by that time, the crawl-space abiding thug had already gotten a few ill-gotten dollars from some scrap dealer for the copper pipes and fixtures. For those of us who would never consider such an act of thievery, it is unimaginable that any respectable scrap metal dealer would fork over cash without question to a low-life appearing with maybe 70-80 feet of copper pipes and fixtures.
Of course, with the help of Satan himself, any such crime is just an ordinary happening.
Possessed by no thought of wrong-doing for theft or worse, it is acceptable, to such a person, to steal. Obviously, there was never a severe reprimand in that person’s youth for taking what did not belong to them.
As we forge into the future, and the new society grows, not upon firm, righteous foundations, but instead spongy building blocks without severe penalties for wrongdoing, such larceny will grow worse.
I truly pity the police, who are the front line of such criminal activity on a recurring basis. Imagine, on a daily basis, listening to a victim tell how the theft will impact them. Think what the officer must have thought writing the report of a church, being victimized for over $1,000 or copper pipes, and knowing that same church helps feed hungry children and adults who are down on their luck. How disgusting it must be to hear and report again and again, but, then, a policeman’s lot never was a happy one.
As the detective told me, that the St. Barnabas theft was reported so quickly may help in solving the crime. That’s because many times, such criminal activity takes place beneath summer houses, unoccupied through the off-season, and thus ripe targets for thugs. He said there will likely be a rash of reported thefts when those owners return for the season and turn on their faucets, only to have nothing flow from them.
Those couple of bucks that change hands in a copper theft, I suspect they help fund an illicit drug dealer’s lifestyle. That small sum may buy several quick hits of heroin or crack cocaine, then, the high will wear off, and the user will begin scouring a new area to victimize in the dark of night.
Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer has long championed the public as being an invaluable asset to law enforcement. With alert citizens throughout a community mindful of their neighbors’ houses, their daily movements, what their vehicles look like, when they are normally away from home, criminals face a formidable challenge. Police urge that such watchful citizens NOT attempt to stop any criminal, but instead to pick up the phone and call the local department ASAP.
There have been criminals caught and crimes quickly solved because citizens, “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore,” who want to live in a safe community call the police. If that call is made to police, and there is a legitimate reason for a suspicious vehicle or person to be at a home or business, what’s the worst that can happen? The police will ask identity of the person(s) and run a check on the vehicle. If all’s well, no problem.
Word will soon filter out that certain neighborhoods are NOT to be messed with by criminals.
It’s too bad the copper criminal who stole from St. Barnabas church was so quiet even neighborhood dogs did not bark. The thug might think he got away with his criminal action, but the Keeper of that small church knows who it is. Someday, and the wisest knows not how soon, He will mete out justice to that thief on that last day.