Wichita man indicted on federal copper theft charges

Local authorities have new muscle in their effort to reduce copper thefts.

Wichita police on Monday announced a federal indictment against a man accused of stealing air-conditioning units as far back as seven years ago. Byron Stuckey is accused of releasing Freon, a hydrochlorofluorocarbon, when he allegedly cut copper tubing in units stolen in 2012 and 2014.

Stuckey faces three counts of venting a Class II substance in violation of federal law. Each count carries a potential sentence of five years and $250,000 in fines.

Stuckey is imprisoned at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in connection with the latter of the air-conditioner thefts named in the federal indictment and on forgery, identity theft and misdemeanor theft convictions from Sedgwick County. His earliest possible release date is Aug. 10, 2016, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections online inmate records. He was sentenced in December.

“It redefines the way we’re going to go after people that take air conditioners,” Capt. Jose Salcido said in announcing the indictment Monday.

Salcido said he wants potential copper thieves to think twice before they steal air conditioners.

“It is a federal crime any time they cut that line” in the units, he said.

As early as 2008, the indictment alleges, Stuckey stole air-conditioning units and sold the copper and parts at scrap yards around Wichita. On June 19, 2012, a security camera at a Wichita church allegedly captured an image of Stuckey removing the cover of an air-conditioning unit and then cutting and draining the Freon line.

On June 27, 2012, officers were dispatched to another church, where, the indictment alleges, they caught Stuckey cutting the lines to air-conditioning units. The church refused to prosecute.

Stuckey was arrested two weeks later, when officers found an air-conditioning unit in the bed of his truck, according to the indictment. The Freon line had been cut. The unit was linked to the residence of a man deployed to Iraq.

On Sept. 29, 2014, police were alerted to the theft of two air-conditioning condensers from a local business, according to the indictment. On the same day, a local scrap business reported to police that Stuckey and another person brought two air-conditioning units in to sell. One of the units was identified as being stolen from the business that contacted police.

Thieves targeting air-conditioning units will routinely do thousands of dollars in damage for perhaps $50 worth of copper, Salcido said. Cutting one line can release 4 to 6 pounds of freon into the atmosphere. Cutting freon lines to 46 or 50 air-conditioning units is another matter, he said.

“It starts to add up,” Salcido said.

Lt. Joe Schroeder in the burglary section noticed a surge in air-conditioner thefts and started a dialogue with Salcido.

“We were thinking, ‘What could add more teeth to prevent more air-conditioner thefts from happening?’ ” Salcido said.

He was sitting in bed one morning when an idea bloomed.

“I had me an epiphany: Could this be an environmental crime?” Salcido said.

A detective contacted the Environmental Protection Agency’s Kansas City office, and the investigation gathered momentum. The resulting indictment followed meetings that involved Wichita police, the EPA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“I can’t say enough about the EPA,” Salcido said. “They bent over backwards to help us out.”

Salcido said he wants this case to serve as a warning for area copper thieves targeting air conditioners: “Watch out.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2015 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Wichita man indicted on federal copper theft charges."