The news article is from a Sacramento news channel. The Yanks are notorious for being eons behind the civilised world when it comes to anything to do with air conditioning so still have the old Freon refrigerants in place.
It seems that the kids are getting on the roof, sucking up the gas and then ransacking the units for bits to sell to the scrap man. I really love the part where the man actually shows you how to let the gas go and the presenter who proudly shows you a reusable refrigerant cylinder.
I don't know if it will work with R410A, but watch this space.