2 Men Arrested For Attempted Copper Theft At Condemned Mental Hospital Building
CATONSVILLE, Md. (WJZ)— Barricaded inside a dangerous building for hours. Police say a man trying to steal copper holed up inside an abandoned structure at a psychiatric hospital.
Meghan McCorkell has more.
After several hours, that man finally gave himself up to police, but the show of force is a sign the county is cracking down on copper thieves.
A tactical team prepared to enter a vacant building on the Spring Grove Hospital campus. Police were called after two men were seen going inside with hacksaws and crowbars. One was caught immediately.
"The other one escaped up into the attic of that building. A search was initiated but had to be called off due to darkness," said Greg Shipley, Maryland State Police.
Lack of light wasn't the only issue. The building has been condemned since the 1970s and is filled with hazardous materials.
"That building is very dangerous. It is loaded with asbestos, possibly PCBs, lead, black mold," said Joseph Gannon, who works nearby.
Surrounded by police, Dennis Dyer, 41, finally surrendered after four hours. He crawled out of a hole in the roof of the building. His accomplice, 39-year-old Matthew Blizzard---who lives at a shelter on the hospital campus---is also in custody. The arrests are a sign police are taking copper thefts seriously.
"We have cases where a single suspect is responsible for dozens and even hundreds of these metal thefts," said Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson.
Metal thefts have tripled in the county since 2009. Now police are cracking down, creating a metal theft task force.
"Copper thefts, all kinds of metal thefts, have been quite a problem around the state of Maryland," Shipley said.
The large show of force sends a message to copper thieves: police are after you.
People who work around the hospital campus say copper theft has been an ongoing problem in that condemned building.
Both suspects arrested Tuesday have faced criminal charges, including theft, in the past.
