Man Accused Of Stealing Copper From Victorville Church's A/C Units

VICTORVILLE (CBSLA.com) — Members of a Victorville church had to endure another Sunday in the sweltering heat after their air conditioning units were dismantled by a suspected copper thief.

The suspected thief, identified as a 55-year-old Joe Hubbard, was arrested Thursday at the Burning Bush Baptist Church on Seventh Street after a churchgoer with a permit to carry a weapon apprehended him at gunpoint.

Deputies were called to the scene and arrested Hubbard, who was subsequently booked on suspicion of burglary.

The churchgoer was part of a patrol that had been established after the church realized that a theft had occurred.

The discovery of the thefts was made days earlier on Aug. 24, after the church noticed that the units weren't working.

The next day, someone came to look at the units and saw that three had been dismantled and the copper wiring from inside removed.

On Aug. 28, the suspect allegedly returned, and was arrested.

"From the person that I think it is, he's been inside of our church and we have helped him in the past so that's what really hurts inside. That we went out, and reached out to him and he did something like this to us," Richie Dreighton, a churchmember, told KCAL9's Joy Benedict.

Meanwhile, the church hopes to get the units up and running soon. They say the thefts caused significant damage in upward of $100,000.