Cell phone towers, AC units and transformers seem to be the latest target for criminals seeking copper wiring. Local business owners, Armando and Molly Martinez say they’ve been hit twice in just three months.
RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Cell phone towers, A/C units and transformers seem to be the latest target for criminals seeking copper wiring.
Local business owners, Armando and Molly Martinez, say they’ve been hit twice in just three months.
“They got into the transformer and stole the copper from the transformer to the building, so the whole shopping center was out,” said Armando Martinez.
The Martinez’s own Dulce River and Turquoise Desert in Rio Rancho. Back in January, someone broke into the transformer behind their businesses to steal the copper wiring then just last week, someone did it again, putting them out thousands of dollars.
“We lost almost $30,000 and the insurance wrote us a check for about four grand, so we had to weather a big amount,” Armando said.
The first time it happened, they were shocked.
“I’ve heard about it, but until that actually happens, you’re just like, ‘Wow, OK,’ and we unfortunately didn’t have really a way to plan for it,” said Armando.
After January, they put more measures in place. And while they couldn’t prevent the second theft, whey were at least more prepared.
“We lost maybe, like $300 or $400 worth this time of food, and we bought another $400 to $500 worth of dry ice. So like, all in all, this one kind of set us back $1,000 loss of sales, maybe, maybe $5,000 max of everything. Little bit easier pill to swallow than $30,000,” he said.
In addition to losing power and losing food as a result, they also had to stay closed both times for a couple of days.
“We [were] like, ‘Oh, are people gonna come back?’ Are people this and that because we’re closed? Like, it’s a bad impression if you’re closed,” Armando Martinez continued. “People don’t understand what’s going on. They don’t understand, oh, people actually came in the middle of the night, hooked their car up to the transformer, and pulled wires out.”
But then the community did find out, and showed up.
“It’s always this overwhelming feeling like, to know, so many people really do care and it’s just that love that we hope to give to our community. And so it’s nice when the community remembers you,” Molly Martinez continued. “Everyone’s going through something. But that doesn’t mean that we get to turn into mean people or rude people. It’s you still have to go out in the world with kindness.”
There’s no word on who did this for either of the thefts. But the Martinez’s say their landlord is in contact with Rio Rancho police.
As for other business owners, Armando and Molly suggest they invest in motion cameras.
DJ Kamal Mustafa
I’m DJ Kamal Mustafa, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of EMEA Tribune, a digital news platform that focuses on critical stories from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan. With a deep passion for investigative journalism, I’ve built a reputation for delivering exclusive, thought-provoking reports that highlight the region’s most pressing issues.
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