Homes under construction have become easy targets for thieves.
Police said they caught a pair of suspects red handed early Tuesday morning, attempting to get away with copper piping in a new neighbourhood in North East Winnipeg.
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“It’s a big problem,” said Jonathan Wiebe. He wasn’t surprised when he saw the copper piping had been pulled out of the ground on the new home he is drywalling in Starlite Village north of Regent Avenue.
“It kind of looks like they knew what they were doing,” said Wiebe.
“Because this pipe was actually buried in the ground and to be able to find the location of it seemed like they would have done this before.”
WATCH: Jonathan Wiebe talks about copper theft from home he’s working on
A neighbour called police at 2 a.m. after seeing two people break into the brand new home still under construction.
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Police said the thieves were caught in the act.
“The combined efforts of general patrol, Air-1 and K-9 in the situation resulted in a quiet arrest,” Constable Jay Murray said Tuesday.
The suspects were still in the home when the K-9 unit arrived. As the dogs stood at the top of the stairs barking, police said they ordered the suspects to come out of the basement or they’d send the dogs down. The suspects willingly gave themselves up.
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“Often these are individuals who have committed similar crimes in the area, we believe there may be other victims,” said Murray.
WATCH: Cst. Jay Murray talks about attempted copper piping theft from Winnipeg home
Police want others affected to contact them at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).
“They can bring it to a scrap yard and get paid for it,” said Wiebe.
A pound of copper is worth between two and three dollars.
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A man and woman were arrested. The man was known to police and remains behind bars.