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Updated: 8/31/2009 1:08:09 PM
Thieves get away with $24K in materials from local lumber company
By Art Aisner
Special Writer
Saline police said they are investigating the theft of several thousands of dollars worth of lumber from a company on the city’s east side over the weekend.

Employees with the Chelsea Lumber Co., located at 600 E. Michigan Ave., discovered the lock to the lumber yard fence was severed when they arrived for work last Saturday morning, according to a police report.

The lock was cut and 280 wooden boards worth an estimated $24,000 were missing, Saline Police Detective Don Lupi said.

The boards ranged in size from 12 feet long to 20 feet long and were banded together in large blocks wrapped with metal. They collectively weighed between 4 and 6 tons, and would have required a trailer or several heavy-duty trucks to move, company officials told police.

The yard closed at 6 p.m. the previous night and no suspect descriptions were available.

Lupi said the thieves put the severed chain back on the gate to avert suspicion as long as possible.

The boards were also manufactured by AZEK, considered among the highest-quality decking materials on the market and priced accordingly, Lupi said.

“We believe this was someone who knew exactly what they were looking for and totally cleaned them out,” Lupi said.

It was the third time the business was burglarized since May, according to reports.

Lupi said Monday that there does not appear to be any connection between the crime and the rash of other commercial break-ins reported on the city’s west side throughout August.

However, he said investigators are checking with other area police departments for reports of similar crimes to generate possible leads. Several AZEK boards were reported stolen from the company’s other facility in Chelsea earlier this year, reports indicate.

The boards are considered a mixture of light brown and clay in color, and Lupi urged anyone to report a large quantity of composite decking material where it may not belong to police immediately.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Saline Police Department at 429-7911, or e-mail Detective Don Lupi at dlupi@cityofsaline.org.

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