Man Charged with Stealing Copper Coils from Air Conditioner

A man was charged April 24 for stealing copper air conditioning condenser coils from a business at 1430 Mid Rivers Industrial Drive in St. Peters.

A business owner reported the condenser coil theft Aug. 20 as well as $1,000 in damages to the air conditioning unit and $2,000 to replace Freon gas released into the atmosphere.

said in a report that Erik Burle, 42, of Licking, MO, was identified selling the condenser coils at a nearby recycling business Aug. 29.  The report said Burle’s vehicle matches a vehicle caught on video surveillance and DNA from a cigarette butt found at the crime scene matches Burle’s DNA.

According to the report, Burle said he does not recall the incident because he uses heroin.