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Thieves Target Diesel, Brass, Copper From Fields

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 3, 2008

Updated: 06/03/2008 04:19 pm

TAMPA - Enterprising thieves have found new venues from which to pilfer: fields of strawberries and groves of oranges.

They're not stealing produce, but diesel fuel out of tanks, copper and aluminum wiring out of pump houses and sprinkler heads amid the strawberry plants.

The reason: Diesel fuel is fetching record prices, more than $4 a gallon; copper is between $3 and $3.50 a pound; and a single sprinkler head has enough brass in it to get between $4 and $5.

In the agricultural areas of Hillsborough County, strawberry growers aren't seeing thefts of diesel and copper so much as they are noticing thefts of sprinkler heads, which contain a good amount of brass that can sell for up to $1.60 a pound.

Allen Williford, president of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, said sprinkler heads cost growers about $15 each, while thieves can get about $4 each at the scrap yards for the brass inside.

Diesel and copper at pump houses aren't as tempting because the strawberry fields are small and pump houses are usually near a home, so anybody lurking about can be seen from nearby roads.

But thefts of sprinkler heads can take place at night, with someone sneaking up and down the rows without much notice, he said.

One grower recently reported the theft of several hundred sprinkler heads in one night, Williford said. About 40 sprinkler heads can fit in a five-gallon bucket, so they are easily carried away, he said.

Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said deputies have not noticed any changing trends in the theft of diesel fuel or copper wiring from farmers or ranchers.

"We had a big sprinkler theft a while back," he said, "but that was about it."

Warren McKnight, president of Holly Hill Fruit Products, one of the oldest citrus growers in Polk County, said thieves have targeted pump houses recently, siphoning diesel fuel along with copper and nickel wiring.

The trend started in November, when the price of diesel began its steady climb to what it is now. The price of scrap copper also has skyrocketed, officials say.

The increase in burglaries and theft resulted in Holly Hill Fruit Products installing electronic surveillance.

The recordings captured two incidents of theft and led to the arrests of three local men, McKnight said.

Still, the lure of scrap copper and diesel just sitting in 500-gallon tanks in an isolated grove is tempting, he said.

"Scrap metal value has gotten so high," McKnight said. "We've had a rash of thefts over the past year. I think it started in November. They hit one pump house on U.S. 27 off Interstate 4 three times."

Thieves had a method, he said. They broke into the pump houses right after rains, he said, "because they knew that right after a rain, you wouldn't be there."

Irrigation pump houses — there are 10 on the Holly Hill property — are the targets, he said. They are powered by electricity ora diesel generator and have either copper wire or diesel fuel tanks.

Holly Hill Fruit Products used to be the largest grove in Polk County, with 5,000 acres of citrus trees. It's a family business that began in the 1920s, McKnight said.

The pilfered metal is usually sold at area scrap yards and the fuel sold to local truckers, he said.

Andrew Meadows, spokesman for the Florida Citrus Mutual, said there has been a 30 percent increase in diesel fuel theft from citrus growers over the past four months. Although that won't result in an immediate impact on the price of oranges in the supermarket, it, along with drought, disease and the cost of fuel, is cutting into the profits realized by the mutual's 8,000 members.

He said the problem is that keeping diesel tanks safe from pilferers is not that easy.

"More locks, more chains, surveillance," he said. "I don't know of anybody who has hired security at this point. The problem is that these tanks are located in remote locations. An irrigation pump out in a 100-acre block is not the easiest piece of machinery to keep tabs on."

One helpful aspect is that the grove diesel fuel is red in color, dyed that way as an easy way to identify it as tax-free fuel to be used only for agricultural purposes, he said.

Thieves who steal it can get rid of it in any number of ways, he said.

"Personal use, sale to another manufacturing firm that needs it," he said. "There's somebody who's going to use it."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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