Copper wire stolen from local sprinkler systems

Winter months see spike

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

As spring rolls around and residents are turning on their sprinkler systems, residents in parts of Highlands Ranch have noticed the irrigation back ow preventer valve have been stolen.

A resident who recently posted on a private Highlands Ranch Word of Mouth Facebook page said they noticed part of their sprinkler system appeared to be cut and stolen.

Often seen on the side of the house, the irrigation back ow preventer valve is a device on portable water lines to protect against back-pressure and backsiphonage of contaminated water from sprinkler systems into the potable water supply.

According to Deputy Cocha Heyden, the spokesper- son for the Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce, it’s the portion of the copper piping of sprinkler systems that have been taken. e alert states, “Copper pipes between the house and the sprinkler systems have been cut or stolen. e thefts are occurring overnight, but we believe the suspects may be casing the neighborhoods during the day, wearing orange safety vests.”

“Sometimes people may not even realize that it’s gone until they start activating their sprinkler systems for the spring and summer,” said Heyden.

Between mid-March and April, the sheri ’s o ce received about 20 reports of copper pipe thefts, said Heyden.

On April 6, the Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce posted an alert on Nextdoor after three separate neighborhoods in Highlands Ranch had been repeatedly targeted with sprinkler systems copper pipe thefts.

“We don’t want people to call every construction worker they see, but if you see a potential person walking around with nothing else associated with construction other than a vest, that maybe slightly suspicious,” said Heyden.

Reported victimized houses include those on Burgundy Circle, Gwendelyn Place, Foxridge Trail, MacalisterTrail, Heatherwood Lane and most recently Dolton Way, with neighborhoods being victimized multiple times.

“It could be that these people were hit all at the same time but didn’t notice it until they reported it, so it may not necessarily have been people coming back to that street multiple times,” said Heyden. “ ey could have hit it multiple times at one time, but the victims didn’t know about it until they discovered it.”

Although there have not been many reports recently, it does not mean the thefts have stopped. Heyden said she believes when people start getting out and looking at their sprinkler system, the sheri ’s o ce may have more reports because people may not have realized over the winter. ose stealing the piping tend to sell the copper piping to places like scrap yards. e sheri ’s o ce suggests having neighbors be aware of what’s going on in their neighborhood and report suspicious activity such as someone appearing that they’re looking in backyards, coming from someone’s backyard or a suspicious vehicle. e sheri ’s o ce also recommends residents look at their sprinkler systems when outside or when gardening to see if the system has been tampered with. If the sprinkler system has been broken, cut or the copper piping has been removed, Heyden asks residents to call the non-emergency number at 303-660-7500.

According to Heyden, suspects are most likely looking for houses where the sprinkler system equipment is not behind a fence.

“It’s better for you to call us and it turned out to be nothing than you not call us and someone being victimized,” said Heyden.

In addition, if the sprinkler system isn’t behind the fence, consider getting a motion detector installed nearby.

In theft cases such as these, detectives will normally go through the neighborhood and see if there is any camera footage or photos of potential suspects, said Heyden. ey will also seek information from other jurisdictions if they have had similar issues.

“We’re just trying to get the word out to citizens to just be mindful of what’s going on around you and just be cautious of suspicious people and just to call,” said Heyden. “ at’s the biggest thing, getting us to the area as fast as possible is the best thing to do and that way we can at least contact the people if possible.”