Kern County Authorities Locate Stolen Vehicle, Copper Wire; Man Arrested
Photo credit: Kern County Sheriff’s Office
“On May 6, 2024, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Rural Crime Investigations Unit, along with Deputies from the Taft Substation responded to the 300 block of Pierce Street, Taft, CA regarding a stolen vehicle being parked in the alley. In the back of the stolen vehicle, detectives located several strands of large gauge copper wire. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office has continued to see a large rise in copper wire thefts from farmland and oilfield properties in the Southwest portion of Kern County. These thefts have caused significant damage to the victim’s property and upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair and replace.
During the investigation detectives located ERIQ CASH (34), from Taft, in the area of the stolen vehicle. Rural Crime Detectives were able to obtain evidence that showed CASH was involved in several of the copper wire thefts they were investigating, along with the stolen vehicle.
CASH was arrested and booked at the Kern County Inmate Receiving Center for violating VC 10851(a)- Grand Theft Auto, PC 496D(a)- Possession of stolen vehicle, PC 487J- Theft of copper wire, PC 466- Possession of burglary tools, and PC 496(a)- Possession of stolen property.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Rural Crime Investigations Unit at (661)392-6093 or the Secret Witness Hotline at (661)322-4040.”
