Looting Reported in Some Areas Affected By Sandy

You've seen them - the dark rusty trucks pulling trailers, even new rigs of all shapes and sizes.

They are picking through your garbage, reclaiming 'scrap' that is not their own. Some see this practice as a help.

Others see it like I do - stealing. This morning I had two such folks visit our street. The first had a driver and a "checking man," who was checking houses and contents as the other waited.

When I confronted and told them it was private property, they claimed they did not know. Were they not from the area? What area is it allowed to enter people's homes and properties and shop for whatever it is you want. I shot a photo of them and took their plate number and called police.

Scrappers tend to be people that, when the market is ripe, scan municipalities for fools gold: grills, gutters, chairs anything alumium like ladders or boat motors.

Well that was before Sandy. Now they have branched out with the amount of condemned homes, they now enter properties like they are their own, searching for everything.

Not ten minutes after I was on the phone with police for the first call, another person was on my front porch taking tools. I sprung from my seat in barefeet and confronted him. He turned and ran, getting in his Black Ford Ranger. He was about 23 in age and had brown hair. I called police and the response was very fast and professional.

If you see scrappers, call the police try and take a picture of them. This practice is no longer at the curbside. Scappers are looters in my book unless there a licensed contractor.