Back-to-back copper wire thefts leave Tulare County farmers without water

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- A South Tulare County agricultural farm was targeted twice within 48 hours in a copper wire theft that left crops without water and caused significant damage.

TJ Singh, the farm manager, said thieves stole copper wire from a water pump on two consecutive occasions, preventing irrigation at a critical time.

"We were supposed to have water on the crops 10 days ago... Since this first occurred, we have had our pumps off this whole time, and our trees are struggling," Singh said.

The thefts resulted in more than $20,000 in damage. The stolen copper wire is believed to yield only about $150 when sold, highlighting the disproportionate impact on farmers.

Authorities and industry experts say such crimes are increasingly common in agricultural areas. Bobby Rader, a local police chief and founder of a farm security system, said copper wire theft has become routine.

"You know what is even more insane copper wire thefts at these pumps is so commonplace people don't even, it's just expected its just normal, and that is why I'm so passionate about this as an ag cop for 16 years, this is what i do," Rader said.

Rader developed Cop-R-Lock, a security system designed to prevent theft and catch suspects in the act. He said a lack of real-time awareness often allows thieves to operate undetected.

"Here we had a theft in progress with an employee half a mile away, but he didn't know. And that's the problem with copper wire theft at its root," Rader said.

The impact extends beyond a single farm. Ben Guier, a supervisor at Wills Pump in Exeter, said his company regularly responds to theft-related repairs across the region. With more than 3,500 customers, many of them farmers, he said incidents are frequent.

"One hit home last night; they got my boss's property right next to the shop... so we woke up having to deal with that as well, so it is probably about 6-7 a week; we do this on average throughout the entire year," Guier said.

Guier said it is discouraging to see criminals' profit while farmers shoulder the financial and operational losses. Without functioning pumps, fields cannot be irrigated, halting production and putting crops under stress.

Singh said the repeated theft has compounded the strain on his farm and its trees.

"And it's hard to watch them struggle on a daily basis, and when they hit it a second time around, when we were almost up and running, it just doubled the impact of that," he said.

In response, Singh said the farm plans to increase overnight security to prevent further incidents.

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