Maryland Metal Scrap Law May Still Have Holes

WASHINGTON — They’ve robbed graves and construction sites, churches and schools. They’ve taken statues from bases and ordinary pipes right out of the walls. But even a new law designed to curb scrap metal thieves seems to have barely slowed them down.

Brian Sclar, the president of the metal recycling business Frederick Reliable, has his workers follow the law, viewing and recording full identification of sellers and photographing all the scrap they’re selling, but said it doesn’t seem to have put a dent in the problem.

“I don’t think it has been a huge deterrent,” he said, referring to the number of copper thefts in Maryland. “But I do think it has been very effective in solving a number of copper theft crimes.”

In February, six men were arrested for the theft of about $31,500 worth of copper wire belonging to Verizon in Aspen Hill, the most recent in a long string of copper thefts in Maryland. The suspects were caught in the act, using a bucket truck to take more than 1,800 feet of copper wire from telephone poles.

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