Fire hydrants uprooted for valuable metal parts
A man dressed in an orange fluorescent vest showed up in a white utility truck, turned off water to a fire hydrant on the street and appeared to work on it.
What could be wrong with that?
Authorities now believe the man was a metal thief, hauling off entire 80- to 100-pound hydrants or cannibalizing them for their bronze and brass parts and selling them as scrap metal for about $1.60 a pound.
Replacing them can cost the public agencies between $1,000 to $1,800 each.
Since early April, 45 hydrants — 25 from one water agency — in San Bernardino and Riverside counties have been reported stolen or vandalized for their metal.
“When I heard about the incidents from our employees, I couldn’t believe it,” said Eldon Horst, general manager of the Jurupa Community Services District, which had 16 hydrants stolen or damaged since April 12.
On Wednesday a Riverside County man believed to be responsible for the brazen daytime thefts and vandalisms was jailed, said an investigator with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Brian Burian, 45, was taken into custody at his home in the Riverside County community of Rubidoux, west of Riverside, after the owner of a Colton scrap yard identified him as the person who sold him scrap metal, said Deputy Roger Young.
Young, who investigates metal thefts, said his inspection of the scrap metal determined it was from a dismantled fire hydrant.
A scrap yard can be charged with a felony for buying a fire hydrant or parts of one. But in this case, the parts had been cut up so as to make them nearly unrecognizable, Young said.
“A layman wouldn’t be able to tell it was a hydrant,” he said. “It was just pieces of brass and bronze.”
Burian is being held at West Valley Detention Center on suspicion of receiving stolen property. He is due in court this morning.
Young said employees of the West Valley Water District in the city of San Bernardino, which had at least 25 hydrants vandalized, played a crucial role in cracking the case by staking out an area plagued by thefts.
On Tuesday, employees followed a truck seen in the Agua Mansa area on the border between Riverside and San Bernardino counties to Burian’s home and notified Young.
“They did awesome work,” Young said. “Without their help it would have been hard to stop this guy.”
Young said West Valley officials estimated their losses at between $50,000 and $80,000.
Burian was arrested in connection with the San Bernardino incidents, Young said.
“I believe 100 percent that he’s involved in the Riverside County thefts as well,” Young said.
Lt. Art Gonzales said Thursday the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was seeking an arrest warrant for Burian in connection with one of the thefts after he was identified by a witness. The investigation is continuing.
“He has not been ruled out in the other 19 incidents,” Gonzales said.
Water company officials in both counties said the person responsible had expertise in shutting off the water supply to the hydrant before removing it and hauling it away.
The Rubidoux Community Services District had three hydrants taken and a fourth vandalized for its metal parts, said Steve Appel, the assistant general manager.
Young said witnesses in the San Bernardino incidents reported that the man wore an orange fluorescent construction vest and drove a white utility truck.
Gonzales said a witness in one of the Riverside thefts told investigators that when he approached the man tampering with the hydrant, the man said he was refurbishing it.
Burian has multiple convictions in both counties for receiving stolen property, drug possession and burglary.
By SANDRA STOKLEY
The Press-Enterprise
