A natural gas leak in western Iowa is blamed on a copper thief. Police evacuated a neighborhood on the west side of Council Bluffs, a few blocks east of Interstate 29, just before dawn as officials searched for the source of a gas leak.
It was determined the leak was coming from a vacant home where someone had been trying to steal copper pipe. Police arrested a teenage suspect a short time later and recovered the stolen copper.
Residents were allowed to return to their homes around 6:30 a.m. About a dozen homes were evacuated.