Suspected copper thief fatally shot in Garland by business owner's son
03:03 PM CDT on Monday, July 14, 2008
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / The Dallas Morning News
kdurnan@dallasnews.comGarland police say they planned no criminal charges against a 25-year-old man who fatally shot a suspected copper thief Thursday.
The shooting happened shortly before 1:20 a.m. at Bargain Town Variety & Furniture store in the 5700 block of Broadway Boulevard.
The business owner's son, identified by police as Sunny Sheu, was guarding the roof because the store had recently been hit by copper thieves.
The son said he confronted a man who had climbed onto the roof, police said. The son fired his gun, striking the man in the torso. The man fled and collapsed on the ground.
The shooting victim was identified as Edward Preston Hickey, 43. According to investigators, he had an extensive criminal record of mostly nonviolent offenses including theft and public intoxication.
Police said Mr. Hickey had a small backpack containing tools that could be used to steal copper.
They said Mr. Sheu was cooperating in their investigation.
According to Garland police spokesman Joe Harn, Bargain Town manager Jose Hernandez filed two theft reports this month. On Tuesday, he said $1,500 worth of air-conditioning parts were taken from the store. On Wednesday, he reported that someone had stolen $6,000 worth of copper out of air-conditioning units.
"Last night, the owner's son decided to sit on the roof and see if someone came," Officer Harn said.
Police were called by an off-duty officer who was working security at a nearby Wal-Mart.
Police said the case would be referred to a grand jury for review, but that such reviews are standard procedure in fatal shootings. They said they had no plans to arrest Mr. Sheu.
"We've had a lot of problems in this area," said Wilson Samuel, owner of nearby Quality Cleaners and Quality Convenience. "That's why we put up burglar bars. We were broken into, but the alarm scared them off.
"It's sad someone had to lose their life, but at the same time they need to stop this," Mr. Samuel said. "If you don't do anything about it, they keep doing it."
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/garland/stories/DN-coppershoot_11met.ART.West.Edition1.4d632d3.html
