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Police: Copper thieves broke in through concrete block wall

ATLANTA — Police are searching for the thief involved in an unusual building break-in.

Someone broke through a cinder block wall and stole copper from a building on Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard in northwest Atlanta.

"It takes a lot of effort to use a sledge hammer and knock those blocks out," said building owner Andy Howard.

Monday, Howard discovered the damaged wall and realized someone had broken in over the weekend.

"I assume they were just concerned about the windows having alarms," Howard said.

The thieves knocked a hole in the wall just large enough for a body to get through. Once they were inside, it was easy access to what they were really after – at least 400 pounds of copper.

"It's huge wire. It's all copper. It's old wires that haven't been hot for a long time," Howard said.

The owners hadn't given much thought to someone breaking in to steal the wiring. Most of their concern was the expensive air conditioning units on top of the building that contain copper.

They installed motion sensors and barbed wire to protect the units on the roof, but now they will put more security inside as well.

"We have an alarm system that will be a motion detection system coming in here," Howard said. "This old panel (containing copper wiring) is of no use to us, so they caused very little damage. I don't want them to come back."