Furnaces stolen from Royal Oak homes

"Looks like a lot of work to take a furnace," Royal Oak police Lt. Spencer said

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Two homes on Garden Avenue in Royal Oak had their furnaces stolen from them.

Both homes were empty; one is for sale and the other is for rent. Both furnaces were old, so who would want to steal them?

“That is an excellent question," Royal Oak Police Lt. Keith Spencer said. "I don’t have an answer for that right now, because it is unusual for someone to take an old furnace. We are looking into finding out why.”

David Oliwek went to the rental home to fix the door. He said he's heard of all kinds of thefts, but furnace theft is rare, and he described the crime as "pretty strange".

“It is an usual case to have someone come in to a home and steal an old furnace,” Spencer said.

Public safety investigators in Berkley said furnaces down the street have been stolen out of homes five times. Two were stolen right before Thanksgiving, and three were stolen last week, all from unoccupied homes for sale or rent. Some of the furnaces were worth more than $3,000, taken from newly constructed homes.

“They got to be selling them," Oliwek said. "There isn’t a lot of scrap in furnaces these days.”

“Looks like a lot of work to take a furnace,” Spencer said.


About the Authors:

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.