Mitchell Bedolla Garcia, a man from San Jose, is behind bars without bail this weekend. He faces felony grand theft charges for allegedly swiping $1300 worth of copper wire from a Moraga hardware store, according to a press release from the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office released Friday.

Garcia is accused of going to an Outdoor Supply Hardware store on Tuesday and loading several rolls of copper wire into an empty box meant for a vacuum cleaner.

Authorities claim he proceeded to then tape the box so that it would appear unopened, before paying $110, the price of the vacuum cleaner, at the register.

The statement goes onto say that Garcia's arrest came when he went back on Thursday to return some unrelated items. The store manager then recognized him from security footage, and called the police. He is currently being held in a Martinez jail, awaiting his arraignment.

Garcia's arrest marks yet another chapter amid a slew of recent copper thefts in Contra Costa County, which have led to frequent disruptions to phone and internet services.

Earlier this summer, copper thievery caused two power outages, with three cities in the area being forced to endure a weeklong 911 outage both times.

AT&T, the company most frequently hit by thieves, is offering a $5,000 reward for any information that results in an arrest, and are planning to sue a local recycling plant they say is accepting stolen materials.

Copper thieves have also targeted the South Bay as well, wreaking havoc on VTA's light rail lines to the tune of $500,000 in damages. More than 300 streetlamps in San Jose were said earlier this week to be nonfunctional because of thieves, as reported by NBC Bay Area.

Most metals, and especially copper, are seeing an upwards jolt in theft nationwide,  a result of their sale prices charging to record highs in recent years. Experts say the surge is being sparked by diminished supply and a powerful current of optimism for presently ongoing electrification efforts.

In Richmond, where a man died two weeks ago while attempting to steal wiring, local officials declared on Tuesday their commitment to cracking down on the robberies. At that same press conference, Police Chief Bisa French pointed to unhoused residents as a major source of the city's tenfold increase in copper-related incidents compared to previous years.

French, who has lived in Richmond for more than twenty years, also made sure to reflect on negative impacts the thefts are having on her fellow residents.

“These thefts affect people’s lives every day, from having the ability to stay connected on the internet, the ability to access local 911 services, [to] the public safety hazards that come with down[ed] traffic signals and lights," she said.

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