A fellow Jamulian wrote me last night with some interesting information. It seems that there has been a rash of thefts of two sorts in the area…
One sort is thefts of metal scrap (primarily copper, I think). In the recent case of Bob Orlosky and the murder of Charles Crow, one of the possibilities raised is that Charles Crow and the other two people in their vehicle were raiding Bob Orlosky’s scrap yard — or that Bob believed they were doing so, accurately or not. Several of my readers commented that there had been other thefts of scrap, including just a few days before the murder on Bob Orlosky’s property.
Now I’ve learned that Robby Ivy (a long-time resident of Lawson Valley, and the fellow who provided the land for the Lawson Valley fire station) was robbed of some scrap metal (copper wire) just this week. Sheriff’s Deputy Brown handled the case, and told Robby that such thefts have been occurring recently all over the Jamul area.
The other sort is thefts of oak wood (for firewood). This happens every winter as the demand for firewood increases; the prices of $200 or more for a cord of wood attracts a certain low class of people with a chain saw and a truck — apparently whether or not they have any rights to the wood. Recently the gate at the base of Hilary Road (a road on private land in Lawson Valley) was torn up so that a truck could get through. The oak thieves didn’t even take the down, dead wood — instead, they cut down some of our beautiful (and threatened) live oaks. These scum make my blood boil…and bring to mind a refrain from a fellow blogger, appropriately modified:
Oak tree. Rope. Oak thief.
Some assembly required.
The floor is open (in the comments) for good ideas about how to address this plague. Meanwhile, I’m cleaning and maintaining my weapons, making certain I have plenty of ammunition on hand, and thinking about how to turn our field spaniels into vicious thief-biters!
