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Watch a Man Steal a Copper Downspout from a House in Beverly

By Howard Ludwig | June 25, 2015 12:56pm
Copper Downspout Thief In Beverly
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DNAinfo/Supplied Video

BEVERLY — A thief was caught on camera swiping a copper downspout from a home in North Beverly.

Dr. Audrius Plioplys owns the house at 8800 block of South Pleasant Avenue and was asleep at home when the thief swiped his downspout at 1:56 a.m. Saturday.

The former neurologist-turned-artist didn't even notice the gutter was missing until Sunday evening. He filed a report with the Chicago Police Department on Monday morning.

Plioplys was able to view the footage from his home security camera on Wednesday and shared the video with Chicago police in the Morgan Park District.

The police issued a community alert on Wednesday indicating that eight homes in Beverly have had their copper downspouts stolen in June.

The valuable metal downspouts were all stolen in the early morning hours, while residents slept. The thief has been targeting homes between Western Avenue, Longwood Drive, 90th Street and 107th Street, the alert said.

Police said the thief was spotted in one robbery. He was described as a black man about 5 feet, 8 inches tall. He's believed to weigh about 170 pounds and was wearing a white T-shirt, the police alert said. The man fled in a dark colored car, possibly a Buick. The car had a tan-colored door on the passenger side and a loud exhaust system, according to police.

Plioplys' video didn't capture the thief's vehicle, though the description police provided seems to match that of the offender caught on tape.

"This guy knows what he is doing," Plioplys said on Thursday morning.

He worried that the thief might come back to swipe the other copper downspouts around his house. Thus, he isn't in a big hurry to repair the damage until the criminal gets caught.

"The question is how many of these are we going to have to fix," he said.

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