VIDEO: AC Unit Theft Prevention

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – These days, it’s hard to sit through the heat without some form of air conditioner in your home or car.

Instead of buying one, recently there have been some who have decided to steal window units from homes.

Columbus police responded to a call Wednesday about a stolen air unit from a window.

These types of theft are being more and more common as the summer moves along.

There are ways to prevent this from happening, and it’s important to follow this advice so that you can keep your house cool.

It’s a common sight to see window units in homes and businesses.

It looks somewhat secure, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to steal one.

“The main reason that it’s easy is because it’s hanging out the window and is exposed to the outside of the house, where it’s not as secure. The weight of the air conditioner makes it easy because they can just walk up, snatch the outside, and pull it right out of the window,” said Bruce Patrolman, Bryan Roberts.

One size fits all is not how window units work.

“Most window units, they make them to fit different windows, so they have to put the extra pieces to keep the air in and stuff. It makes it flimsy. It’s just hard to get them secure in there to keep them from being able to be stolen,” said Roberts.

Another reason is that some people don’t follow the instructions correctly.

“A lot of folks don’t put everything on it that’s in the box, and that’s another reason that makes it easy,” Roberts pointed out.

Really, the only thing that is holding the window unit is the window itself.

The main piece of advice is to simply keep the window from opening, so your unit is safe from a quick rob.

“Inside the window, put better screws and things like that inside the window to hold it down to the wood that’s inside the frame, where it’s more secure,” said Roberts.

A couple of store owners we talked to also say that barring or gluing the window shut are other ways of keeping your AC in your home.