The Costa Mesa Police Department has been focused on a recent crime trend in the region: copper wire thefts. This type of theft is costly to repair and disrupts businesses, schools, and public lighting. That is why their department has been working diligently to identify copper wire thieves and arrest individuals connected to any wire thefts in the city.

In February, detectives investigated several recent copper wire thefts from local schools. They developed a lead on a vehicle associated with the suspects which led to the arrest of two individuals, an arrest warrant for an outstanding female suspect, and leads on other possible accomplices.

On March 27, Fairview Park maintenance employees discovered about 900 feet of heavy gauge copper wire had been stolen from the in-ground electrical access boxes, which was reported to the police. Through further investigation, detectives identified two men, one of them was connected to the woman who had a warrant out for her arrest from the February copper wire thefts.

Yesterday, March 28, detectives located the suspects. Yanet Erica Guerrero-Garcia, 29, Guillermo Urrutia Gil, 35, Hugo Albert Salmeron, 37, were taken into custody and booked on copper wire thefts associated to Fairview Park and nearby schools.

Detectives recovered approximately 220 pounds of cleaned copper wire stolen from Fairview Park. Great work by the Costa Mesa investigative team on the arrests and the recovery of the stolen copper wire!