A recent outbreak of materials theft from roofing companies, whether from customers' driveways or straight from a roofing supplier, is impacting the industry across the country.

Kelly Warren with Warren Roofing in Omaha, Neb., told 6 News WOWT that when they arrived at a home following a hail storm, someone had stolen the materials traditionally “put on the roof first,” including ice shield, felt and nails that were delivered on July 9.

Warren's crew still worked on the roof but had to replace 10 rolls of ice and water shield, three rolls of felt, and two boxes of roofing nails stolen overnight. They said this costs them $3,000.

“It’s out of our pocket, straight from the profit taken from my jobs and from other companies that had this happen as well,” Warren told WOWT.

Jennifer Sommer, a homeowner, told WOWT it was “uncomfortable” to know people stole materials from their homes.

“We were home, so it’s a violation of privacy and security and kind of the unknown of having somebody right here in front of our house taking property,” Sommer said to WOWT.

She described how a neighbor had stolen roofing materials from their property as well, saying it likely occurred between midnight and 6 a.m. WOWT explained that three roofing companies working in the northwest metro reported the theft of lighter supplies, like nails, that were delivered to customer driveways before jobs started.

This isn’t the first time Omaha thieves have stolen roofing materials in recent history. Last February, KETV reports the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was on the lookout for a suspect who stole roofing materials from a construction site.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, the local police department is asking for people to help identify a man who, on July 10, used a stolen truck to burglarize a roofing supply business. Fox-affiliated KOKH reported about the incident.

This guy used a stolen truck to burglarize a roofing supply business in the 5100 block of NW 5th. If you recognize him, call Crime Stoppers at 405.235.7300 or go to https://t.co/YVxGWebkLk. You can remain anonymous and may earn a cash reward. 24-48106 pic.twitter.com/DWcngYnZ2X

— Oklahoma City Police (@OKCPD) July 10, 2024

Not all robberies have been successful. Last April, two men were shot by a homeowner in the San Antonio, Texas area while attempting to steal roofing materials, according to reporting from ABC-affiliated KSAT.

Recovering Stolen Goods

Although rare, it is not impossible to recover stolen items. Kyle Burdine, managing partner at RAMCON Roofing in Tampa, Fla., took to LinkedIn about a month ago to describe an incident where thieves cut open job boxes and stole a robot, its accessories and other roofing materials.

Thankfully, with some “clever technology,” they were able to track down the robot, which was in the hands of individuals who bought it on Facebook Marketplace. Although they recovered the robot, no arrests were made, and the other materials, like the culprits, will likely remain in the wind. Burdine encouraged manufacturers to help contractors by making it easier to track materials.

“Roofing manufacturers, we need to add unique identifiers to the thermal prints on TPO rolls (perhaps lot #'s next to the ASTM number?). Without these connections, our recovery efforts are severely hampered,” he wrote.

Other professionals were sympathetic to RAMCON's situation, with many of the comments on Burdine's post sharing their own stories of when items were stolen from job sites. 

Like RAMCON, roofing companies have worked out similarly clever ways to recover stolen goods. In March 2023, thieves stole roughly $7,000 to $10,000 in materials from a job site where Stronghold Roofing was working on a library in Oklahoma City.

Stronghold Roofing had no recourse for recovering the materials but learned from the experience. They started using AirTags to keep track of their supplies, placing the small discs made by Apple in material boxes. The small discs can be located using the Find My network, which came in handy when supplies came up missing in May 2023.

Using the AirTags and with assistance from the Oklahoma City Police Department, they tracked down the missing supplies at an out-of-state roofing contractor’s job site.

“It’s proof of concept for us, and a learning experience to make it more efficient for us in the future if any materials are stolen,” Zach Simmons, vice president of Stronghold Roofing, told RC following the incident.

Other times, it appears to be more a matter of luck. In October 2023, Artistic Roofing in Ogden, Utah, recovered nearly $40,000 in supplies stolen from a commercial roofing job within two hours of discovering the crime. KSL-TV reported video footage from surrounding businesses showed four different camera angles of a pickup truck driving by while pulling a trailer.

Detectives managed to capture a still image of the license plate, which led them to a house in Midvale. When they pulled up, they found the trailer and the homeowner's garage full of roofing supplies.