STOCKTON, Calif. — San Joaquin sheriff's bodycam footage shows the moment thieves were caught down a manhole stealing copper wire in broad daylight.

Over the past year, this kind of theft and destruction of copper lines has been hurting businesses, as Andrew Lucchetti explained, in the county like his family-run marketplace, The Fruit Bowl, near Stockton.

What You Need To Know

  • Copper wire theft has been plaguing San Jaoquin County

  • Business owners report thieves cutting lines the same day technicians fix them

  • County officials at one point said in a four-day period 48 copper lines were cut in one district

  • AT&T has given the sheriff's department a $40,000 grant to help thwart thieves

"They repaired the line and they'd come back sometimes even the following day or night," Luchetti said. "And cut them down again. You'd always see the big, thick black cables hanging."

Luchetti said their nearly 80-year-old business doesn't have a system set up currently to take orders online, so a lot of the family's business is done over the phone, which he said has suffered.

"A lot of our customers in the area rely on the telephone," Luchetti said. "Some don't have cell phones. They like to call in and chat and tell you what they're looking for, and give you a specific order sometimes."

At one point, county officials said 48 copper lines were cut in one district in a four-day period.

San Joaquin Sheriff Pat Withrow said it's been like playing whack-a-mole for law enforcement, adding thieves have been brazen in their pursuit of copper wire, even dressing up as utility workers.

"Somebody noticed a manhole cover open in the city of Stockton. So we stopped. And as soon as we got out to investigate it, guys started running, and we grabbed them," Withrow said. "And we got a guy down in the hole cutting the wires underground. So, it was amazing exactly how brazen they are to do that right in the middle of the city street."

AT&T operates a majority of the lines in the county and has now stepped in to help thwart thieves with a $40,000 grant to the sheriff's department.

"We're going very strong against it," Sheriff Withrow said. "And we're so blessed to get this donation towards using technology to help us fight this and track these guys, and make sure the people that are doing this, we're holding them accountable."

Withrow noted that they have caught several who he believes are the bigger players in the copper theft business. He said they've also worked to ensure recycling facilities do not accept the stolen copper.

Luchetti said he's glad about the grant but has moved away from the traditional phone line to cut his losses.

"We've changed over to the internet-based phone system, the VoIP, and so that has worked out fine so far," he said.

Luchetti added that he's lucky to be able to install a satellite for internet calls but knows some of his neighbors financially aren't able to, and that is why stopping copper wire theft is so important.