Someone Stole Mutti’s Air Conditioners Overnight

Someone legitimately stole the air conditioners from Mutti's German Restaurant overnight, prompting the eatery to close for the time being until they can replace them. How messed up is that?

You can't have anything in Lawton these days...

Air conditioner theft, especially on those big commercial units, is pretty popular across the country. It was also pretty common in Lawton a few years ago. So much so, a lot of businesses have security cages built around them to prevent this.

If you've ever been through the Little Caesars drive-thru on Sheridan, you've witnessed this security trend this first-hand.

So what do thieves want with air conditioners? Well, it's not to cool down the trap house...

Inside the coils of an outside condenser unit are a good amount of high-quality copper pipe and a decent amount of quality aluminum. These two materials make up the radiator of sorts that transfers your hot inside temperature outside.

If you've ever scrapped an old unit before, you know it takes quite a bit of work to get top dollar. Pulling the aluminum fins off the copper pipe is fine for recyclers, but they often prefer you leave it intact so they can just pay the aluminum rate for the whole weight.

If anything, this should be a good reminder that you should secure absolutely everything you don't want to be stolen from your property. As crime continues to climb, and Lawton's once again climbing to the top of Oklahoma's most dangerous cities list, it's almost as if it's not "if," but "when" you walk out to an instantly ruined day.