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Four people are in custody, after a series of metal thefts at one Peoria location. Police spokeswoman Amanda Jacinto says police noticed air conditioning units at a vacant business were increasingly being stripped, and staked out the area, arresting two husband and wife teams.

“They did admit to our officers that they had made several trips to this location, taking the metals from the area,” Jacinto said. “They would then take that metal to scrap recyclers there in Phoenix to get some money that they would then use to go ahead and pay for their drug habit.”

Jacinto says the women stayed on the ground as lookouts, while the men headed to the roof to scavenge metal. Damage to the several A/C units is estimated at more than $200,000.