Copper Thieves Steal Territory Days Equipment

Copper thieves target equipment crucial for the Territory Days festival in Old Colorado City.

Crooks broke into an organizer’s truck and stole about 2,000 feet of extension cords that would have been used to provide power to all the vendors.

“Without (the cords), we’re out of business,” said organizer Jim Wear, president of Pro Promotions. “There’s no Territory Days if we don’t have power for the vendors.”

Wear said his business will have to eat the cost for the cables, which is about $2,000.

“When you run a business, you have unforeseen expenses and that happens, but it’s also really disappointing,” Wear said.

His truck was getting a paint job at Rockit West Mediaworks on Janine Drive near Academy Boulevard and Austin Bluffs Parkway when someone cut the lock on the back of the vehicle.

“The first thing we thought when the extension cords were missing is, it was probably a scrap metal kind of thing,” said Rockit West Mediaworks owner Nick Cress. “We called around to every scrap yard in town hoping we might get lucky, but no such luck.”

Cress said the thieves struck on Sunday.

Cress and Wear hope that someone may have spotted the crooks, and that pawn shop and scrap metal owners will be on the lookout.

“I’ve lived here all my life, I grew up here,” said Wear. “It’s really disappointing the way things have gone where you can’t even leave a locked truck on the street overnight without fear of it getting broken into.”

Cables that were stolen were between 15 and 100 feet. They were yellow, dark green, brown and black. Also stolen were six power strips. Call Colorado Springs Police at 444-7000 with any information.