Copper Gutter Theft Spree Continues

Copper gutters were reported stolen from three homes in the Lizzie Haddon section of the borough in the past week, the same neighborhood where two women faced down an alleged burglar.

The brazen thefts of downspouts have plagued Haddonfield over the past year. The thefts this week, and one in late August, are part of nearly a dozen similar unsolved thefts since December, including the First Baptist Church of Haddonfield.

Downspouts were reported stolen from the 300 block of Washington Avenue on Wednesday, the 300 block of Estaugh Avenue on Monday and the 300 block of Redman Avenue on Sept. 24. Eleven copper downspouts were reported stolen from a home in the 400 block of Washington Avenue on Aug. 24.

Borough police have said copper is a valuable scrap metal and Haddonfield has been targeted because many older homes have them. Nearly a dozen metal, borough street signs have also been reported stolen in past month. The metal in the signs is not nearly as valuable, police said.

In the 300 block of Mt. Vernon on Tuesday, two women faced down an alleged burglar and chased her until police could assist. The suspect was caught several hours after the chase at the Westmont PATCO rail station.

The women, Angelica Jeffreys and Mary Ann Zaleski, decided to take matters into their own hands when Zaleski walked up on the alleged burglar at her backdoor. Jeffreys sprinted after the suspect while on the phone with police.

"I knew there had been a rash of break-ins in this neighborhood," said Jeffreys, 45, a marketing, advertising professional who works from home. "I knew if this person got away they weren't going to get caught."