Columbus division of police
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Police in Ohio’s capital are searching for a man who’s been pilfering plumbing from stores, hospitals and restaurants.
Dubbed the Bathroom Bandit, Columbus police say he enters various local establishments, visits the men’s restroom, disconnects the plumbing and leaves with the stolen parts in his backpack.
A police department spokeswoman says the businesses won’t only have to replace the parts, but hire a plumber to repair the man’s toilet tinkering. She said his crimes may be unusual, but they’re still felonies.
Okay, I’ll admit to being terribly curious as to the why here. The ‘Bathroom Bandit’ doesn’t seem to be terribly concerned with being identified or caught.
UPDATE: The bathroom bandit, Gilbert Duwayne Courts, has been caught. The police say Courts was stealing the fixtures for scrap to support a drug habit.
Maybe he works in maintenance at the National Park Service and this is the only way he can get parts.
Kengi, now that’s funny, in a tragic sort of way.
It’s probably a reflection of the high scrap value of copper.
I was afraid this was going to be about Sandusky.
Columbus is in Franklin county, one of only two counties in Ohio to ban publicly-funded travel to North Carolina. My guess is he is “punishing” the county for this.
There might be something to that. The alleged crimes are all quite recent (see the second link in the OP). It’s not clear to me if the locations (also see the link) are in any ways “special” with respect to the mess in North Peecantolina.
Are copper fittings actually used much (now?)? Admittedly, some of those locations could be rather old facilities, perhaps more likely to use copper…
Peter the Mediocre:
No, the price of copper is down, and that would be a damn stupid way to steal copper. Most of those fittings are plated (and bronze), and plated copper is a no when it comes to recycling.
Moarscienceplz:
I’d hate for it to be something like that, but I’d put money on you being right.
I hope he’s only stealing from men’s rooms, and can prove he’s a male if necessary.