STOCKTON, Calif. — The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office says it uncovered a network of wire thieves responsible for damaging phone lines, leaving thousand without cell service in the area.
Deputies conducted three traffic stops and served a search warrant related to copper wire theft from AT&T fiber lines. They arrested four people and recovered more than 3,700 pounds of stolen AT&T wire, among other stolen items.
The four suspects were still booked in San Joaquin County Jail as of Thursday morning on suspicion of conspiracy, possession of stolen property and burglary tools. Deputies say some of the suspects were on probation.
Authorities impounded all the cars believed to be involved in the wire thefts. In a Facebook post, the sheriff's office described the operation as a criminal ladder.
"We are hard at work unraveling a criminal conspiracy to damage our critical infrastructure for personal gain," the post said. "This investigation is ongoing and we can assure victims and law breakers alike, we are not done yet."
In recent months, copper wire thefts from AT&T fiber lines caused massive cell service outages, severing access to emergency services and in one case, taking a 911 call center offline.
In April, county officials said San Joaquin County leads the nation in copper wire theft, with a 139% increase in wire theft reported in four months.
AT&T, which also provides phone lines for other cell service carriers, announced a $5,000 reward for tips reported to 800-807-4205.
The issue has also spread to Amador County where similar copper wire thefts from phone lines also caused widespread cell service outages.
The surge in thefts caught the attention of federal lawmakers. San Joaquin County Congressman Josh Harder wrote to the FBI director in May asking for his agency's help in curbing copper wire theft.
Harder is also working on new legislation at the federal level to hold groups buying stolen wire accountable, increase surveillance and further study the impact of copper theft.
Watch more from ABC10: Congressman calls for FBI help amid increase in San Joaquin County copper wire thefts
