LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. – They came, they saw, they stole two $2,900 cast aluminum lamp posts and it was all caught on crystal clear camera footage.
“We have them backing up to the area where the lamp posts were, said Travid O’Guin, the President and CEO of Strange Music. “We have the passenger and the driver getting out and basically putting on a show for the camera. The cameras are right there above their heads.”
O’Guin thinks the bandits snagged the lamp posts to sell to a scrap metal yard.
“I’m not sure what the going rate is, but I know it will be pennies on the dollar,” he said. “I mean, it’ll probably $75, $100 maximum. Yet it’s going to cost us $6,000 to replace them.”
Sergeant Chris Depue with the Lee’s Summit Police Department says the recent theft at Strange Music speaks to the larger problem taking place in virtually every corner of the metro.
“We’ve been plagued with metal theft – whether it’s brass, copper, tin or steel,” said the officer. “Even to the point of manhole cover thefts. So what we have is a perfect situation with bad economic considers and then with scrap metal being so high it’s created a market where people want to steal it with less than reputable dealers who will take it.”
Which is why O’Guin is putting his money where his mouth is an offering a hefty reward for information leading the the arrests of the thieving thugs.
“Over and above the monetary value of the lamp posts, I want to send a message so this doesn’t happen again,” O’Guin said.
If the bad guys are captured, they face Class C felony charges, which comes with up to $10,000 in fines and up to a year in jail.
Police need your help in identifying the lamp post thieves. Contact them on the tip hotline at 816-969-1752.
