Ballard's industrial area has been ravaged by thieves stealing metal products recently because of the high prices paid by recyclers.

During the weekend of Oct. 28th, someone climbed a fence at a local business and stole aluminum parts made for all terrain vehicles.

The owner of the business filed a police report indicating that he had lost over $200 in the burglary. He asked to remain anonymous, not wanting to attract further attention from thieves.

His business has been looted of metal parts several times in the last six months.

"They get in over the fence," he said. He wanted to install razor wire on top of his fence, but found out it was too low to legally do so.

The owner said metal is a hot commodity. Recyclers pay 70 cents a pound for aluminum, an increase of 63 percent over past rates.

Bronze ingots have seen a 239 percent increase in price he said.

Warren Aakervik, president of Ballard Oil, said stealing metal is a common practice because the prices have gone up.

Last month, thieves broke into a construction site on Seaview Avenue and took electrical copper cords valued at $500. They also stole an electrical box worth $700.

A Ballard boat yard has been robbed three times in September and October. During the last break in which took place the weekend of Oct. 6, unknown suspects entered the yard and began sawing off cables.

They got away with hundreds of yards of copper scrap wires and welding wires. Four spools of welding wire were worth $4,000. A 50 foot length of power cable was a $2,000 loss.

Other cities have been experiencing the same problem. The Portland Tribune reported earlier this year that thieves have been taking copper flashing and trim from public school buildings.

In August, the Seattle Times had a story on 46 bronze bear cubs that were stolen from the Brown Bear car wash chain warehouse. Some of the bears were recovered but were damaged.

Doug Dixon, president of Pacific Fisherman said his business has been broken into periodically over the years. He said the crime is an "age old problem."

Ten years ago Pacific Fisherman had a shipment of custom made brass parts in the driveway and someone stole it.

Dixon said the brass parts were found cut up at a metal recycling company. The parts were unusable and had to be reordered.

"We had a lot of problems in the past. We tightened security at a big cost to us," said Dixon.

The company installed a $10,000 24-hour surveillance camera system with nine cameras activated by motion sensors.

Pacific Fisherman has also increased its budget for night visits by security companies.

"We occasionally hire a rent a cop when things get our of hand at a considerable cost to us," said Dixon.

Seattle Police Spokesperson Sean Whitcomb said stealing metal is nothing new and this particular crime ebbs and flows.

Recent media coverage has put the spotlight on the crime. The News-Tribune learned of the Ballard thefts from Incident Reports on file at the police department's North Precinct.

Thieves have been creative in what they take. They have been known to steal copper vases from cemeteries, street signs or anything metal that has recycling value.

Whitcomb recalls a case where someone stole a metal park bench and tried to recycle it. "There are plenty of targets," he said.

Dean Wong can be reached at dino@robinsonnews.com or 783.1244.