Police: Man Stole Copper Piping From Occupied Home

Imagine the following scenario: you shower, head off to work and return home for lunch only to find that the water doesn’t work and all your pipes are missing.

For most homeowners, it seems like something that could only happen in a bad dream, but it was the scenario for one East Summer Street resident that came home earlier this year to find he had been robbed. It wasn’t money or jewelry or even electronics that were taken, according to a report from the Southington Police Department. It was his copper pipes.

Officers last week served a warrant on Plainville resident Gregory Bolduc Jr., 29, after police said evidence tied him to the theft of nearly $2,500 in copper piping from an occupied home in September.

Bolduc was arrested after he was stopped during the department’s Click-It or Ticket checkpoint on Queen Street last Wednesday, police said.

Bolduc, of 36 Whiting St. in Plainville, was arraigned in Bristol Superior Court the following day on charges of fifth-degree larceny, third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, making a false statement and conspiracy charges to each, according to court records.

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He remains in state custody at the Hartford Correctional Center in lieu of a $10,000 court-set bond, state Department of Correction records show.

“It’s an unusual case. It’s not that uncommon to see theft of copper piping from an unoccupied home, but you typically don’t see that kind of activity at a home someone is living in,” said Southington Police Sgt. Jeffrey Dobratz.

According to police reports, the homeowner called for help after he returned home for lunch on Sept. 28 to find his water wasn’t working. While attempting to find out why, he discovered the water had been shut off and the copper piping removed from his basement.

The basement was unlocked at the time, the police report said, and evidence showed Bolduc entered the home and proceeded to remove all the copper pipes.

The piping was then sold for scrap at Liberty Scrap in Bristol, police said. The scrapyard cooperated fully with the investigation, police said, and the theft and damages led to just over $2,500 in losses for the homeowner.

“The homeowner told us he had taken a shower in the morning and there were no issues,” Dobratz said. It took only a few hours for the problem to occur.”

The moral of this story - keep your doors locked and the entrance to your basement secure. You never know what could happen.

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