Downspouts Swiped From Haddonfield Home on Two Straight Nights

Thieves stole sections of copper downspouts from a Washington Avenue home on two consecutive nights, ratcheting up a rash of scrap-metal thefts to a new level this year.

"I can't stay up all night to watch the gutters," said Joe Greene, a retired judge whose home in the 600 block of Washington Avenue had sections of downspouts taken on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. "When I drove into my driveway, I saw my back one gone and I knew I'd been hit."

Greene, who has lived on Washington Avenue for nearly 40 years, said nothing like this has ever happened to him before. He said he doesn't blame local police for the rash of similar thefts, which include nearly two dozen since August and almost three dozen over the last year.

"The point is to investigate where they take the gutters," Greene said.

A call to the Camden County Prosecutors Office for comment on Wednesday afternoon was not immediately returned.

The borough released tips last week for homeowners with copper downspouts. The tips include planting thorny bushes near downspouts to limit access and painting them as camouflage, in addition to calling police immediately if a theft is suspected.

But a quick call didn't help another downspout-theft victim on Dec. 3. The resident in the 1000 block of Wyndwood Road called police at 1:17 a.m. after hearing a noise outside of his home. He discovered two men trying to yank his downspout off the side of his home. They fled and police were not able to locate them after a search, according to a police report.

Two similar thefts were reported on consecutive nights on Kings Highway West. On Dec. 5, two copper gutters and brackets were stolen from a home in the 100 block of Kings Highway West. An eight-foot section of downspout was reported stolen from another residence in the same block the following day.