Treasure Valley builders strike back at rising thefts from house-construction sites

Early Wednesday morning, Rick Morrow received an alert on his cell phone. Someone was prowling around at a home that Tradewinds General Contracting, where he works as construction superintendent, is building in a Meridian subdivision.

Morrow got out of bed and dialed 911. It was 1:27 a.m. He lives nearby and got to the site three minutes later and saw a rental van driving down the street. He alerted police, who were also heading to the scene. They stopped the van a short distance away.

A Boise couple, Jay Lee Scholl and Misty Dawn Scholl, both 36, were arrested and charged with felony grand theft.

Police say the Scholls were caught with boards taken from a 68-sheet stack of oriented strand board behind a partially framed home. The plywood-like material — which on the black market can fetch $11 a sheet, half of the new cost — is used as sheathing for floors, walls and roofs.

“It’s really strange,” said Steven Martinez, owner of Tradewinds, based in Garden City. “Typically, it’s plumbing fixtures, appliances and things that are easy to sell.”

The theft marked the sixth time in the past two months that Tradewinds has been hit at the same job site, leading to more than $20,000 in losses. (At the company’s request, the Idaho Statesman is not disclosing the location.) As lumber and other building materials have gotten more expensive, they have become vulnerable to theft, Martinez said.

“It’s very frustrating to say the least,” he said.

Builders ask police for help

They were able to load the boards, which weigh just under 50 pounds apiece, and take off within minutes. In a subdivision without finished homes, there aren’t any neighbors to watch for suspicious activity and report it.

The theft problem has become so serious that the Building Contractors Association of Southwestern Idaho sent letters Aug. 31 to Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Kuna and Star, asking for help from mayors and police departments.

The letters noted losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars in OSB, plywood, staging furniture and rental equipment. In some instances, appliances and plumbing fixtures were stolen during the day. The letter said contractors cannot afford to hire security officers or install surveillance cameras at each home under construction.

“As the theft loss is mounting, we sincerely ask that the local jurisdictions strive to have adequate patrols to curb the amount of theft in new construction zones,” the letter said.

Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 10, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office received reports on 16 construction site burglaries in Eagle alone. That compared with three burglaries during the same months in 2017. Losses for the 2018 thefts totaled $38,895, sheriff’s spokesman Patrick Orr said.

Police tell builders: Lock your stuff

“We are always reminding people the best thing they can do to avoid being victims of crime is to lock their stuff up — and that advice certainly applies to construction contractors,” Orr said.

The Boise Police Department has seen a rise in construction site thefts over the past year, spokeswoman Haley Williams said. “Detectives have received several reports of stolen trailers, equipment and construction material,” she said.

Meridian Police Chief Jeff Lavey, a detective and a crime prevention officer met with the building contractors association, offering tips to lessen construction site theft. They, too, suggested locking up as much equipment and as many supplies as possible.

They also urged builders to lock trailers and to consider using cameras and other security systems to monitor activity when construction crews are away.

Meridian Deputy Chief Tracy Basterrechea said his department patrols construction sites as much as possible, but officers can’t be everywhere.

“There’s so much construction going on that it’s hard to hit every construction site without neglecting your duties to the rest of the city,” he said. “And you may go through there and five minutes later, they’re going through there and taking it.”

That’s what happened at the Tradewinds site. The board thieves arrived just minutes after a Meridian police officer had driven through the neighborhood.

Equipment-rental firms affected

Rental companies that supply contractors with equipment and tools have also been victims.

Jake Rothenbuhler, branch manager for United Rentals in Boise, said one of his clients had a forklift stolen Monday from a job site in Star.

The forklift had a GPS tracking system, as does 80 percent of the equipment United Rentals supplies, which allowed Rothenbuhler to locate it about 10 miles away. Police weren’t able to find a suspect, but United Rentals was able to retrieve the forklift and get it back to the customer.

Most rental items stolen are easily grabbed by hand: generators, saws and hand tools, he said.

Sam Castillo, sales manager of Tates Rents in Boise, said his company has also been hit.

Contractors’ workers sometimes steal

Meridian detectives monitor Craigslist and other online sales sites looking for suspicious sellers. But Basterrechea said there are also legitimate sellers offering building materials there.

Sometimes, workers for a contractor have been identified as the thieves, Basterrechea said. They steal materials for side jobs they take on, he said.

Builder Corey Barton of CBH Homes said his company has also had OSB board stolen from job sites. He said it would be hard to sell except online.

“If we had some guy call up or grab me on the job site and say ‘Hey, I’ve got 50 sheets of OSB I’d like to sell,’ I’d be very suspicious,” Barton said. “But we’ve never had that happen.”

Thieves have become so brazen, Barton said, that they stole plants that CBH Homes planted for landscaping

at a new project at Black Cat and Chinden roads. Construction had not started yet.

One solution: Screw boards together

Morrow, the Tradewinds superintendent, said he is considering using long screws to bind together several sheets of OSB board.

Said Martinez, his boss: “The losses are getting so great that builders and subcontractors are banding together — whether that’s being on the lookout or putting up cameras and working with law enforcement — we’re taking a much greater proactive stance than we have in the past.”

Meanwhile, the Scholls were arraigned Wednesday and face a preliminary hearing on Sept. 26.