Heads Up, Copper Wire Thieves- Fresno County’s New Law Makes Possession a Problem

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Calling it an “aggressive” crackdown, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved the first reading of a new local law that they say beefs up penalties for scrap metal thieves who target commercial businesses and properties.

Supervisor Garry Bredefeld said the proposed ordinance, which he cosponsored with Supervisor Nathan Magsig, would make it a misdemeanor offense — punishable by up to 180 days in jail and fines up to $1,000 — for any individual to possess, receive or transport more than 10 pounds of stripped commercial grade copper wire without documented ties to a legitimate business.

In an interview Monday with Fresnoland, Bredefeld said current state and local laws primarily focus on business regulations.

“This focuses on the people in possession — that’s the main focus,” Bredefeld said, “it’s not focused on the dealers or recyclers.”

 Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Sheriff John Zanoni called the law a “very critical” new tool for law enforcement. Typically, Zanoni said, when sheriff’s deputies or police officers stop someone with suspiciously large amounts of copper wire, deputies have to be able to prove the wire is stolen before they can make an arrest.

“We see them with what we know is stolen property but it can’t be proven so they get released and on their way,” the sheriff said Tuesday. “With this new ordinance, if you’re in possession of wire like this… that’s more than 10 pounds, you can be arrested for a misdemeanor, subject to civil penalties as well and a fine.”

Magsig said county officials hope other jurisdictions, including the City of Fresno, will follow suit and adopt similar laws throughout the region.

“The message that we want to make loud and clear to criminals out there is there’s nowhere safe in the Central Valley,” Magsig said, “so stop committing these crimes.” 

Zanoni estimated that 10 pounds of stolen copper wire would be worth about $35, depending on market fluctuations and other factors.

Under current state law, scrap metal scavengers typically face theft and vandalism charges. Felony grand theft charges apply when the stolen metal is valued at more than $950 —- under $950 can be charged as a petty theft misdemeanor. The magic number in most vandalism cases is $400 — anything above can be charged as a felony, and anything below can be a misdemeanor offense.

Under the proposal from Magsig and Bredefeld, metal thieves in Fresno County could face an additional charge that could add another 180 days of jail time to any sentence for convicted thieves or scavengers.

But it’s unclear whether the new ordinance would be preempted by the state laws, meaning it could be overturned by the state.

In a statement to Fresnoland late Tuesday, District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp applauded “the intent” behind the county’s proposed ordinance, but said it “may conflict with existing state law.” 

“As such, the District Attorney’s Office has a legal and ethical obligation to ensure that any enforcement of the ordinance does not violate state preemption laws,” Smittcamp said.

The Fresno County prosecutor said her office would seek the opinion of the California Attorney General before proceeding with any prosecutions under the new ordinance.

“It is critical to understand that prosecutions initiated before receiving the Attorney General’s opinion risk being appealed and potentially overturned, jeopardizing the effectiveness of this important ordinance,” Smittcamp said.

Bredefeld acknowledged Smittcamp’s concerns, calling them “understandable,” but said he and Magsig “did their homework” and crafted an ordinance that they don’t believe conflicts with the state laws.

Supervisor Brian Pacheco, who voted in favor of the ordinance, questioned whether the debate would ultimately amount to “much ado about nothing” if the state decides to quash the copper wire ordinance.

“I like another tool in our toolbox,” Pacheco said before voting at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, “but if our chief law enforcement officer in the county doesn’t feel that she has the capability to enforce this, is it really helping us?”

Zanoni responded, acknowledging, “It takes a little bit of courage. We have to take a little bit of a risk here.”

“I do understand District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp’s point of view,” Zanoni said, but until the attorney general gives us a ruling on this as to some constitutionality of the law, I believe we’ve met the requirement.

Supervisor Buddy Mendes said attempting to push through the new ordinance was “better than nothing” and criticized the state for failing to take stronger measures to address a problem that has lingered for decades.

Additionally, the ordinance would clear the way for Fresno County to take suspected thieves to civil court and administer new fines.

“We’re looking at every possible option for enforcement, including civil suits, administrative penalties and jail time,” Bredefeld said. “We’re imposing the maximum that we can as a county, including civil action.”

Scrap metal scavenging and thefts have plagued communities for decades, from Los Angeles to Shasta County, to the central San Joaquin Valley. A county staff report estimates that scrap metal scavenging and theft caused at least $3 million in damages to commercial operations in Fresno County in 2023.

Last year, Fresno City College’s new West Center campus sustained thousands in damages from metal thieves. Just last summer, thieves caused about $300,000 in damages to the Fresno Mission Family Center. In late 2023, a 63-year-old man was charged with nearly $3 million in theft and damages to solar panels feeding the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Campus.

Bredefeld said local businesses are fed up.

“Basically, I had farmers and business owners approaching me, saying we need to do something about this out-of-control problem that’s not getting any better.”

Many of those groups are backing the new county ordinance, including AT&T. Bryant Milesi, director of external affairs at AT&T, penned a letter this week to the county Board of Supervisors urging them to adopt the new law.

“For the past few months, AT&T has been subject to increasingly high rates of copper thefts in Fresno, including growing incidents throughout Fresno County,” Milesi wrote in the April 3 letter. “Copper thefts are highly damaging to the community. They cause communication outages that negatively affect thousands of residents, businesses, and government institutions. These outages depress economic activity and even interrupt essential emergency communications.”

Bredefled said he and Magsig developed the ordinance with a large “working group,” that included the sheriff’s agriculture crimes task force, county counsel and the CAO’s office, along with city leaders, including City Council President Mike Karbassi, City Attorney Andrew Janz and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.

Karbassi and others from the City of Fresno were on hand Tuesday for the news conference at the county Hall of Records and confirmed they have their own plans for a “very similar ordinance” on Thursday’s City Council agenda. Karbassi said he was “very confident” the city’s ordinance would pass.

“Property crimes are not victimless crimes,” Karbassi said. “We’ve heard from our residents time and time again … they’re just tired of all the property crimes out there and copper wire theft is not a victimless crime.”

Supervisor Luis Chavez said the coordination of simultaneous ordinances signaled that “the era of the city and county working together is here.”

 Courtesy: www.fresnoland.org