Fire Hydrants Stolen From New Housing Development In Rancho Cucamonga

RANCHO CUCAMONGA (CBSLA.com) — Sheriff's detectives are investigating the theft of at least four fire hydrants from a new home development in Rancho Cucamonga.

The fire hydrants, which are solid brass and believed to have an estimated value of $2,500 each, were stolen from the new home development at about 4 a.m. Monday.

Police say the thief had the presence of mind to turn off the water to the hydrants first, so that there would be no telltale geyser.

"Obviously they're stealing it for the brass, if that's the material they're making it out of," resident Sam Macauley said. "Hopefully we can get a little bit more police presence and stop that from occurring."

An abandoned car was found early Monday morning at the corner of Banyan and Raindrop nearby. Detectives say the hood was opened, and there were tools inside that could be used to steal fire hydrants.

There have been previous thefts in the neighborhood, even though it's a brand new development.

"Well, its disturbing of course. We've had a lot of burglaries, we were burglarized before we even moved in – they stole all our built-in appliances," resident Janice Rutherford said. "So it's a concern."

Police say they have made no arrests and the case is still under investigation.