Copper thefts

It hasn't happened here yet, but it probably will.

The AP reports that David Bruce Husband of Taylorville, Ky., was pronounced dead at the scene at an electric substation near New Castle in Henry County, Ky., on Tuesday. His body was discovered around 1 p.m. Tuesday. Police suspect Husband and others entered the substation early Tuesday morning to steal copper wire.

Capital punishment for copper wire thefts? The Darwin principle at work? We've heard of this happening before. Considering the year-long problem this area has had with copper thefts, something like this will happen here sooner or later.

I mean, in the West End, a guy came home after being gone two days and discovered someone had crawled up under his house and stolen his copper plumbing pipe.

Scrap metal dealers are probably griping about having to fill out all those forms and notifying police electronically when they buy large amounts of "scrap" copper, but it's a small price to pay.