An estimated $5,000 in copper wire was stolen from the old ADM factory on South Henderson Street.
According to a Galesburg Police report, officers took a complaint from an individual who explained that they found the doors to the factory had been breached and copper wire was stolen from the building four weeks ago.
The man said he didn’t think to report it but noticed more of the copper wire going missing recently.
He said that generators that power the grain bins and fans had copper piping missing. He added that he put a padlock up to secure it and the padlock was cut to gain access to the grain bin.
He said the generators and fans were all damaged and disassembled to gain access to the copper wire. He had estimated the damage at $100,000.
During the interview, a recycling plant in Davenport, Iowa, contacted Galesburg Police regarding a suspicious amount of copper wire being received.
The plant informed officers it was valued at $2,000. The plant called to see if there had been any copper wire stolen recently.
Photos of the wire were shared with Galesburg Police and the man said the wiring “looked familiar” but could not be sure it was his.
The case remains open.
