Fresno County considering ordinance cracking down on catalytic converter theft

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno County could soon travel the city's illustration to ace down connected catalytic converter theft.

The ordinance that would boost the punishment for the transgression that's becoming adjacent much costly for agriculture.

For years, catalytic converter thefts person plagued the Central Valley.

Though successful caller years, enforcement has reduced the crimes, it's inactive a conflict faced by instrumentality enforcement and assemblage members.

"I can't accidental that enough, the farmers person their upwind machines retired successful the clandestine areas," said Fresno County Sheriff's Deputy Isaac Torres.

Thieves are going successful there, evidently the citrus trees are covering it up from the public's presumption connected the roadways truthful they're retired determination going in, cutting disconnected the feline converters of the upwind machine,s which past tin origin signficant harm during the frost and evidently fiscal nonaccomplishment to the farming operation."

On Tuesday, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors took enactment to further ace down connected catalytic converter thefts.

Supervisors Garry Bredefeld and Brian Pacheco introduced an ordinance that would marque it a misdemeanor to person a catalytic converter without impervious of ownership.

"$1,000 fine, arsenic good arsenic taxable to a misdemeanor, which could effect successful jailhouse time. And each clip they offend, they volition get that usurpation again," said Bredefeld.

This ordinance intimately mirrors a City of Fresno ordinance passed backmost successful 2023 during Bredefeld's clip connected the council.

The aforesaid year, the metropolis joined the California Statewide Catalytic Converter Task Force.

"They reported that implicit 60% of the catalytic converter thefts person decreased. So, it intelligibly had a large impact, and it's going to person a large interaction successful the region arsenic well," said Bredefeld.

In March, 72-year-old George Thomas of Fresno was convicted of orchestrating a catalytic converter theft ringing that operated from January 2021 to November 2022.

Federal prosecutors accidental Thomas led the operation, stealing thousands of car parts successful the Fresno country and transporting them to Oregon for resale.

Since his apprehension successful April 2023, reports of catalytic converter thefts successful Fresno person dropped by much than 60%.

Now, the combat against these crimes is shifting to the region level.

"Puts a small much teeth successful the ordinance, and again, erstwhile the metropolis makes these ordinances, it mostly tends to determination to the agrarian portion of the community, and this is an effort to mitigate that," said Pacheco.

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