On Tuesday, June 22, Edward James Conlon, age 20, was sentenced in Tulare County Superior Court by the Honorable Darryl Ferguson on 1 count of grand theft, a violation of Penal Code Section 487, 1 count of vehicle theft, a violation of Vehicle Code Section 10851 and one count of felony vandalism, a violation of Penal Code Section 594b.  Judge Ferguson sentenced Conlon to jail for 1 year, placed him on 3 years formal probation, and ordered him to pay a total of nearly $5,200 in fines and restitution. Conlon previously entered guilty pleas in Superior Court.  Ian Marty of the Ag Crimes unit was the prosecutor for this case.

The case began in the early morning hours of December 6,2004, when a pickup truck was stolen from a local veterinarian.  After stealing the truck, Conlon and an accomplice using a chain tied to a tree ripped off the truck box containing the veterinarian’s equipment from the bed of the pick-up.  At approximately 4:00 AM Conlon and an accomplice drove to a dairy in the Tulare area in the stolen truck.  They drove the truck over to the milking barn and started to load a pressure washer on to the truck.  An alert dairy foreman saw them arrive and went over to investigate.  The foreman saw them loading the pressure washer and yelled at Conlon.  Conlon and his accomplice sped off striking a basketball pole.  As they drove away, the hose from the pressure washer was flailing wildly off the tail gate and business cards of a veterinarian were strewn about.  The Sheriff’s Department was called and began an investigation.  Later,  the dairy called the veterinarian on the business card around 9:00 that morning.  The veterinarian, who had discovered his vehicle missing at 6:00 AM then went to the dairy.  While on his way to the dairy, the veterinarian saw his truck driving in the opposite direction.  He attempted to follow his truck but Conlon was able to evade the veterinarian.  Later the stolen truck was recovered but destroyed.  To add insult to injury, the seats had been slashed, the interior had cigarette burns, and the words, “Merry Christmas,” had been painted on the windows.

This case was investigated by the Sheriff’s Department’s Ag Crime Unit and prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Ag Crime Unit.  Both units operate through the Rural Crime Prevention Program of the Office of the Tulare County District Attorney.  The Rural Crime Prevention Program was developed by District Attorney Phil Cline to stop and prevent agricultural crime.

For more information on protecting agricultural operations contact the Rural Crime Prevention Unit at (559) 624-1054, the ACTION Project at (559) 624-1054 or the Sheriff’s Ag Crime Unit at (559) 740-4300.  Information can be obtained on line at www.agcrime.net

Contact Person:

William Yoshimoto

(559) 624-1054