Guard nabs copper wire thief, firm teams with city to deter crime

SANTA ANA, Calif.-- Universal Protection Service guard Ed Llamas thwarted an attempted theft of copper wiring from an abandoned building in Fremont, Calif., thanks to quick action on his routine check-up of the building. David Andris, president of South Bay Development, said this is the first time any of a series of thieves have been caught at this location. A similarly motivated copper wiring heist happened just to the north in Riverside, Calif., at a newly built motor sport store. At this location the criminals were caught on two occasions in one week by a surveillance system. It was during a patrol stop that Llamas noticed suspicious activity on the roof of the Fremont building. Llamas contacted the Fremont Police department, who apprehended the suspects. They carried not only copper wiring, but also burglary tools, stolen property and methamphetamines. With the increase of copper wiring being stripped from buildings in the San Jose area, the Silicon Valley chapter of the Building Owners and Manager's Association formed a security committee with the guard firm to prevent theft of this magnitude in the area. "Our training methods provide our security professionals with the capabilities to achieve these types of results for clients," Steve Jones, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Universal said in a statement. "We have long been recognized as a leader in training, city, and BOMA participation, law enforcement involvement and innovation. We maintain the highest standards possible for all of the properties we serve." In the area, it has been reported that building owners' losses are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Typically, the perpetrators take the copper wiring to recycling centers where they exchange it for cash.