Benicia police arrest four in copper theft crackdown

(KRON) — Three men and a woman were allegedly caught in the act of stealing copper cable in Benicia Wednesday morning, according to police. The Benicia Police Department said the value of the copper stolen across several thefts and the resulting vandalism exceeds $5,000.

Detectives investigating a series of copper thefts in the industrial area near East Second Street witnessed two men on Wednesday around 7:30 a.m. loading cable into a U-Haul truck, police said. The truck allegedly sped from the scene as officers arrived, prompting a vehicle pursuit into San Pablo. The two men in the U-Haul truck fled on foot and were detained by San Pablo Police Department officers.

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A second vehicle that was at the scene of the copper theft also drove off when Benicia PD officers arrived, according to authorities. The woman who was driving the vehicle was found in the 1900 block of East Second Street and arrested, while a fourth suspect was taken into custody as he emerged from hiding at the site of the copper theft.

Benicia police identified the suspects in arrest records as:

• 31-year-old Tiffany Jneen Cochran
• 32-year-old Richard Robert Schlitz
• 36-year-old Salvador Alvarado Ramirez
• 46-year-old Milton Antionio Ramirez

The men face felony charges of grand theft of stolen copper materials and conspiracy to commit a crime, while the woman faces a felony charge of conspiracy to commit a crime.