Shawnee County Commissioner: $200 copper theft brings $100,000 in costs

The theft in July of an estimated $200 worth of copper from the Kansas Expocentre grounds will ultimately cost the county about $100,000, county commission chairman Kevin Cook said Thursday.

He asked what Shawnee County could do to deter copper thieves.

“I wish I knew,” replied facilities maintenance director Bill Kroll.

Commissioners Cook, Shelly Buhler and Bob Archer voted 3-0 Thursday to approve two proposals enabling Kroll’s department to pay costs resulting from the crimes.

Kroll said a security camera video showed burglars on July 17 entered the Expocentre grounds and tried unsuccessfully to steal copper from a 40-ton DX chiller unit near the south entrance outside the Agricultural Hall, but destroyed that unit.

The burglars also stole two 3.5-ton condensing units from outside a vacant former fire station the county owns on the Expocentre grounds at 1715 S.W. Topeka Blvd., he said.

Cook said the crimes happened in a “very public, very open area,” so he was surprised no witnesses reported seeing them occur.

The security camera video was turned over to the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, which was investigating, Kroll said.