By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Larry Ramsey usually uses his “game cam” to find good spots to hunt white-tailed deer, but after a series of thefts from his Chehalis business, he set up the device in his shop, and he’s caught one.
Game 'cam' picture taken inside Ramsey Co.'s shop on Hamilton Road in Chehalis.
The camera – which uses infra-red technology and a motion sensor – snapped a photo of an intruder inside his Hamilton Road building recently and the sheriff’s office is hoping someone will recognize the individual and give them a call.
Ramsey said thieves have been stealing pieces from his trucks and other equipment, both when they’re out at work sites and at the Ramsey Co. in Chehalis. They cut battery wires and welding leads for the copper they contain, he said. Some of the leads are up up to 60 feet long and are expensive to replace, he said.
The business, which employs about six people, manufactures custom buckets for use with heavy equipment used for mining sand and gravel. Ramsey Co. sells most of their machines in the Midwest.
Out in the woods, Ramsey might set the game cam up on a trail which might be populated by deer, and later check the photos with his laptop computer. But he found it has this other valuable use.
When Ramsey recently browsed the pictures captured by the game cam, he discovered a man had broken in about 10 p.m. on April 20. He looks like he’s in his 30s and of average size, Ramsey said.
“What he was looking for was copper,” Ramsey said. “There was an old welder he looked at, but they’d already stolen the leads off that.”
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter