Home » Construction Trespasser Arrested after Trying to Steal Lumber

Construction Trespasser Arrested after Trying to Steal Lumber

Posted by Louis-Phillippe Renaud on Oct 22, 2021

Construction sites are prominent and filled with valuable tools, equipment and supplies that serve as “eye-candy” to people. For trespassers, thieves and vandals, construction sites provide a supply of hot commodity items to destroy or steal and resell for the highest price in the black market. Even afoot, thieves can steal rather large items from construction sites as seen in this video.

An individual entered an active construction site. This caught the eye of a Stealth security operator who then watched as the trespasser proceeded between scaffolding and further into the site where supplies needed for the project were stored. The individual grabbed a piece of plywood from a stack stored on-site. The trespasser, turned potential thief, dragged it toward the scaffolding area and then ducked out of camera view.

Our operator contacted police and informed them of the suspect’s last known location on the site. Police officers arrived as the would-be thief walked back into camera view and was intercepted by officers. The suspect was arrested and placed into a police cruiser.

Hot Commodity Items on Construction Sites are Thieves’ Dreams Come True

As construction company owners and site managers, one way to help keep your sites secure is to stay up to date on trends of hot commodities present within your site that thieves and vandals seek. Focusing on lumber, prices have risen 50% since August 2021 and some experts say this will continue through early 2022, according to Markets Insider. This data should prompt a construction site security plan review and perhaps overhaul to lessen the chance of lumber being stolen from your site.

In the video above, an individual is seen trying to steal a single sheet of plywood. While this may seem irrelevant, think of the more sophisticated thieves who engage numerous people and a truck and trailer. With choreographed precision, this group of thieves could have wiped out all the plywood in a matter of minutes. This could have resulted in a huge loss for the construction company having to replace such an expensive item needed complete their project.

Stealth Monitoring’s customized security solution for construction sites is your eyes when no one else is watching. Through IP, HD video surveillance cameras, our video analytics watch for activity, not just motion, taking place on your site. When the analytics determine an incident that seems suspicious and needs human intervention, Stealth’s trained security operators are alerted. Once alerted, our operators take over with human eyes watching the incident to determine if something unwanted is happening and then using human intelligence to act to help deter it.

Our operators can sound on-site warnings, contact on-call employees and contact local police to come to the site to help prevent and help deter unwanted and criminal activities. This provides the highest level of security possible while minimizing liability at a price point that is typically 25-60% less than traditional security solutions.

Contact us today to learn how remote video monitoring can help keep your equipment, tools, supplies and other hot commodity items from being vandalized or stolen from your construction site.