Sultry summer mornings in July seem like the worst time to show up at work and find your air conditioners have been ripped off by thieves.
It happened Monday to the staff at Cowley County Mental Health at Strother Field. Three air conditioning units were reported missing.
"The lines were cut and they’d been loaded up and toted off, probably for the copper," says undersheriff Bill Mueller. "It was someone who knew what they were doing."
Mueller said similar incidents have occurred in the Ark City area.
It seems to make sense that perpetrators of the crime worked at night over the weekend. The location of the units was in an area where it would be fairly easy to escape detection, Mueller said.
And it was likely a team effort because air conditioner units can weigh 200 or 300 pounds each. Which would seem to require at least a couple people to lift.
"We’re trying to narrow it down to determine when it happened and find out if anyone saw or heard anything suspicious," Mueller said.
Mental health officials were unavailable for immediate comment.
