Valley Sees Rise In Air Conditioning Thefts
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mecca reported four air conditioning units turned up missing on Wednesday.
The stolen units will cost $6,000 to replace.
According to police, air conditioning thefts have been on the rise in the Valley, lately.
Deputy Angel Ramos says “theft of air conditioning units in the Coachella Valley has increased in recent years due to the increase of copper prices and other metal products.”
Though there are no suspects right now, Ramos says they follow up with recycling companies because they are required to ask for identification of the seller.
They also they take the thumb print of the seller and the photograph,” Ramos says.
Father Javier Escobar is trying to manage the weeks agenda without air conditioning, saying “we need to move the people and all the meetings to other buildings and usually we have during this month al the day ceremonies but for this accident we need to move to the parish.”
Ramos urges people to take precautionary measures to prevent from theft. He points out that “there are several things they can do to prevent theft such as putting some sort of security on the a-c, nowadays they sell or they provide alarm systems for air conditioning units themselves since this has become a problem, or security cameras can be installed.”
