Oct 7, 2008 12:19 pm US/Pacific
Local Pumpkin Patch Closed Due To Copper Thieves
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) ―
Families looking to pick pumpkins at sleepy hollow pumpkin patch will find themselves at a dead end this year. The business that sold pumpkins for two decades is closed, and the economy isn't the only reason why.
"Sleepy Hollow" is a fitting name "right now" for a lot that's been neither 'sleepy' nor 'hollow' this time of the year for two decades.
"It's a focal point for Roseville. You drive down the freeway, and it's there, "says Jennifer Haupt, a ten year customer.
The pumpkin patch has become a lifeless lot. Rides that would otherwise be on high for kids are now waiting on high bids on eBay.
"We've put everything on eBay. We will try to sell all the rides. It's about all we can do, "explains Candy Stephenson who owns the property.
Candy Stephenson owns the land; she's help run the pumpkin patch with her brother.
Candy says repeated copper and tool thefts between June and July have stripped them of more than just pieces of their trucks and cables around their rides, it's stripped them of their pumpkin patch business all together.
"We've got it estimated up to 50k. But whoever stole it got very little back for it," says Candy.
She says it simply wasn't feasible to spend that kind of money to get started again.
"No more pumpkins. We're just going to sell the rides, and that will be the end of that," she says sadly.
Meanwhile, Marco Landeros showed up while we were at the lot, looking for to work at the pumpkin patch for a 5th-straight year. He was just laid off of his construction job.
"I really was counting on this job over here. Now, I don't know," Marcos says.
He'll have to wait for Thanksgiving, when the family will continue with its Christmas tree business.
In the meantime, customers will have to find another place to get their pumpkins for Halloween. The only thing for sale on the lot for now are the pieces of the pumpkin patch themselves.
Meanwhile, Gov. Schwarzenegger just signed into law a handful of bills that will make it more difficult for metal thieves to profit by selling what they've stolen.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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