THOMASVILLE, GA (WALB) - The temperatures may be dropping, but one particular crime is heating up.
Thieves continue to hurt south Georgians by stealing air conditioners for the copper and scrap metal. "Partially to blame because of the price of some of the scrap metals is extremely high and also people are taking whatever they can find to sell to make ends meet," said Thomas County Sheriff's Captain Steve Jones.
Thomasville and the surrounding area has seen more than 30 of these thefts over the last month.
The area around Wolf Street in Thomasville has been hit multiple times. "We have beefed up patrols in that area however we are still having them in that area and in that neighborhood," said TPD Public Information Officer Lt. Eric Hampton.
Outside of the Walton building used to be a five ton air conditioning unit before it was stolen by metal thieves. The second time the school has been hit in the last month.
Police say vacant homes and buildings are hard to monitor because there is no one there to report the crime. "So we are asking anyone if you have those properties that you check them on a regular basis and were also asking the people who live in the neighborhoods, if you live in a neighborhood where there are vacant properties or properties for sale kind of keep an eye out for those properties," said Hampton.
The Thomas County Sheriff's Office has a similar message. "Just asking people to be vigilant if you see something unusual like this especially these scrap yard operators have got, they have got to be on top of this stuff and know when something is stolen and when it's not," said Jones.
City and county police will continue to patrol from their cars, golf carts, bikes, and on foot.
If you have any information regarding thefts in Thomasville or Thomas County, give crime stoppers a call at 227-3305.
Copyright 2011 WALB. All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 Worldnow and WALB, a Raycom Media Station. 
