Stealing from a church - 8.2.07

Long Branch First Baptist Church in Grover had their air conditioning unit stolen.

Copper thieves struck a Grover church and business, hauling off air conditioning units early Wednesday morning.

But once they got back home and started stripping the units, deputies arrived with handcuffs, officials said. One man took off running into the woods and the other was taken into custody.

“We believe they were dismantling them to take the copper out of them to sell them,” said Lt. Durwin Briscoe of the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office. “Recently, it’s become a major problem. It’s hard for us to trace down the copper once it hits the scrapyard.”