By SANDY McGEE

BURRILLVILLE — Police are investigating a chain of scrap metal thefts they say are linked to economic times.
“We have had a rash of larcenies of scrap metal,” said Lt. Kevin S. San Antonio of the Burrillville Police Department. “One of the biggest areas affected has been the Pascoag Utility District.”

During the last couple months, more than $20,000 to $30,000 worth of metal has been stolen on various occasions from the Pascoag Utility District, according to San Antonio.
“We, as well as other utility companies, have been experiencing a rash of thefts,” said Ted Garille, general manager for the Pascoag Utility District. “In addition to some people gaining entrance to our substation and our yard, they have also gone along the power line right a way and, literally, put a ladder up on a pole and cut the ground wire.”
Copper ground wires have also been cut and stolen from 10 utility poles on Sandwich Drive during the past month, according to police.
“I am baffled by someone who would cut the wire off a utility pole,” Garille said. “Is your life not worth more than $5 to 10 of metal? They are literally putting their lives in jeopardy for a couple dollars worth of copper. They very well could be electrocuted.”
“People are cutting copper wire, a ground wire, from a number of utility poles, which is very dangerous,” San Antonio said. “It’s not only copper, but we’ve had thefts of other metals as well.”
Besides the stolen ground wires from utility poles, Garille said the company has also experienced a break-in at the water department, where brass water meters were stolen; and the theft of an aluminum conductor during a separate incident.
“Our losses are now exceeding $25,000,” Garille said. “We are a small utility company. This has an impact on our ratepayers.”
No arrests have been made in these thefts, but police are working with the company to find the culprits. Police believe that several individuals could be responsible for the separate robbery incidents.
The Pascoag Utility District is not the sole victim in this recent string of scrap metal thefts.
Last week, police were called to the CVS Pharmacy in Pascoag for reports of dismantled air conditioners. According to San Antonio, a person or several individuals managed to access the CVS roof from the outside of the building and remove metal parts of the air conditioning units.
No arrests have been made in this incident, but police are investigating. 
The robberies in Burrillville mimic similar scrap metal thefts occurring in nearby communities.
About 60 pounds of copper was recently stolen from an air conditioning unit at the Diamond Hill Shell gas station on Diamond Hill Road in Cumberland. Like the incident in Burrillville, the air conditioning unit was located on the gas station’s roof.
Police are unsure at this time if the two robberies are connected. Both incidents remain under investigation.
San Antonio said that the increase in scrap metal thievery is a sign of the economic times.
“We are seeing more and more of it (theft of scrap metal),” San Antonio said. “I think the reason is obvious - the economy.”
Both Cumberland police and Garille cited the climbing price of copper as the reason for the growing amount of robberies.
According to the utility company’s general manager, the price of copper has recently averaged at $3 per pound, but has been discovered in some areas as high as $6 per pound.
“It’s fairly obvious, they (the thefts) are tied into the value of the scrap metal,” Garille said.
Both Garille and San Antonio agreed that state law should legally require salvage yard owners and other scrap metal dealers to ask for identification from individuals seeking to sell scrap metal and to maintain a record of those sellers.
“As long as they have this anonymity, they can just take it (stolen metal) in (to a salvage yard) and say goodbye,” Garille said.
The state House of Representatives approved such a bill, House Bill 7482, on May 7. The bill, sponsored by Rep. David A. Caprio (D- Dist. 34, Narragansett and South Kingstown), would require any dealer of metals, including dealers of junk automobiles, to maintain a record of each purchase and sale transaction.
The bill has been referred to Senate Corporations.
To report any information related to the above-mentioned thefts or to report any suspicious activity, call the Burrillville Police Department at (401) 568-6255.