Scrap scavengers pose wily challenge on base

Those greedy corporations keep sending these poor innocents over to die stealing things from the evil government.

Nah! These are just people willing to risk their lives for a buck. Why should the military pause for civilians in the fire zone? That just makes it more realistic!

Scrap scavengers pose wily challenge on base - Marine Corps News, news from Iraq - Marine Corps Times: "During a recent patrol at the base, Marines hunted for scrappers in gullies, desert washes and mountain crevices where some thieves had previously hid from helicopters under camouflage netting.

Last year, Marines found an abandoned car in the desert and a dead man nearby, plus a second man who was on the brink of death from dehydration. The pair were believed to have been prowling for scrap metal. Similar deaths were reported in Yuma.

The military said most scrappers arrested in the past several years appeared to be either illegal immigrants or drug users looking for easy money. If convicted on federal charges ranging from trespassing to theft, they face up to 20 years in prison.

Because the Twentynine Palms base is so vast, officials cannot erect and maintain fences. Instead, they have posted signs warning against trespassing, only to see those signs stolen for the metal.

“We’ve seen all types,” Sgt. Timothy Warren said as he scanned the mountains with binoculars, looking for scavengers. “We’ve even arrested one guy, sent him to jail and then arrested him again a few days before he’s even gone to court.”"