Man caught stealing copper extension cord from Halloween display

One homeowner on Milwaukee's South Side said thieves ripped his copper extension cord from his holiday display.

Aaron Gray, who lives near 3rd and Burnham streets, said he had a visitor looking for something, and it wasn't an early trick-or-treater.


 It does become frustrating when you think even the simplest things, such as decorations for the holidays, aren't safe,  Gray said.

Security video shows a man in his yard, with one item in hand.

Take a look at the footage in the video player above.

 Definitely very frustrating knowing I can't even trust an extension cord being left alone,  Gray said.

The extension cord is worth about $20, but it left his inflatable spider flat.

 It was almost humorous to watch how nonchalant the guy was about it; this isn't the first time he wasn't nervous about doing it,  Gray said.

He placed the cord into a plastic bag and walked off.

 You can see a bag of what looks like, I could only assume, were other extension cords that he probably took along his travels, so I'm sure I wasn't the only one that day,  Gray said.

Gray suspects the copper inside the extension cord may have some value. There's been a recent surge in copper wire thefts in Milwaukee, with the city saying it's the reason for some prolonged street light outages.

Gray isn't worried about replacing the cord, but he's bummed about the mean-spirited assault on his Halloween cheer. Gray said he's not going to let the theft steal his holiday spirit. He plans on wrapping and locking his extension cords to help prevent another one from being stolen.

The homeowner said he did file a report with Milwaukee police.

#wisn   #crimewatchmilwaukee