CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A Charlotte nonprofit that gives free clothes to people in need has been forced to shut down its operations after thieves broke into it four different times in four weeks to steal copper wire.
Clothed with Care operates and keeps its donations at a donated space off Clanton Road.
The first break-in happened in early July and the fourth was earlier this week.
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The nonprofit’s president says thieves pried back a gated fence to get in, sawed off the locks on the door, and stole five cabinets-worth of 8-foot-tall panels of copper wire, doing thousands of dollars in damage and cutting the electricity to the building.
“Individuals were just taking saws to this large copper, I’m told,” said Meredith Loveland, the co-founder and president of Clothed with Care. “It’s about 420-volt wiring that feeds our building with the power that we need to operate, and they just ripped it apart.”
The organization is now looking for another donated space to start its operations back up.
“It’s also unsettling for people to just feel like they can walk in and take what they want, and not only just take what they want but take from an organization that is trying to support individuals in need, so it’s definitely been frustrating,” said Loveland.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are investigating the break-ins. No arrests have been made.
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