Houston trash bins targeted by thieves

HOUSTON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- As many as 4,400 black 96-gallon garbage cans are stolen from Houston, Texas, area homes every year, said police.

"You know it is not a trash can collector," said Richard Alderman, an associate dean at the University of Houston Law Center. "Trash cans are worth something. Somebody is trying to make or save money."

The city buys about 20,000 of them annually for $44 apiece, which is $880,000 a year, and provides one for each residence along a public roadway, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Replacing a stolen garbage can is free for residents, but it requires a police report to be filed for what is considered a misdemeanor theft of city property and is in the same grouping as first-offense prostitution and indecent exposure.

"Gosh, somebody has got to be really bad off," said Douglas Baucum, 67, whose trash can of 10 years recently went missing. "If they are going to steal something, I think they would have gotten a newer one."