GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. --
Eleven people have been charged after prosecutors said they stole $1 million worth of copper from the old Buick City site in Flint.
They are accused of making off with 152,000 pounds of copper during a three-month period last year.
The group consisted of mothers, sons, daughters, friends and neighbors, and authorities said their investigation into the thefts stretched over several months.
Area recyclers and scrap yards paid them $284,000 in cash for the copper for just a few months worth of work.
Investigators said the crew worked in 6- to 8-hour shifts.
"They'd load the copper up on one of those flatbed railroad cars that you see in the old western movies that you use a hand driver for, and they'd take it out to the fence and load it in the pickup truck," said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton.
The group faces charges range from larceny to racketeering.
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