Man sentenced to 2 years in County Jail for having cable stolen from windmills
A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty today to having approximately 900 feet of stolen cable for copper wire and was immediately sentenced to two years in county jail.
Nicholas Dumas of Desert Hot Springs was arrested Monday for being in possession of stolen property, according to deputy Michael Shacklett of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Shacklett said deputies responded at around 8:20 a.m. Monday to a windmill farm near Interstate 10 and Elm Street in the unincorporated area of Cabazon, where wire was stolen from the windmills over the prior two days.
The victim tracked the stolen wire down to a residence in Desert Hot Springs and when deputies went to the area, they saw multiple pieces of cut wire in front of the residence where Dumas was, according to Shacklett.
"During the investigation, deputies learned Dumas received the wire from an individual and was paid to expose the copper wire for recycling,'' Shacklett said in a statement. "The victim identified and recovered approximately 900 feet of their stolen cable."
Anyone with information on the theft of the copper wire was asked to call Deputy Paumier from the Cabazon sheriff's station at 951-922-7100.