(Added by Stats. 1931, Ch. 732.)
496d.
(a) Every person who buys or receives any motor vehicle, as defined in Section 415 of the Vehicle Code, any trailer, as defined in Section 630 of the Vehicle Code, any special construction equipment, as defined in Section 565 of the Vehicle Code, or any vessel, as defined in Section 21 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be stolen or obtained, or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing, selling, or withholding any motor vehicle, trailer, special construction equipment, or vessel from the owner, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for 16 months or two or three years or a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both, or by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year or a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.
(b) For the purposes of this section, the terms “special construction equipment” and “vessel” are limited to motorized vehicles and vessels.
(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 374. Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.)
496e.
(a) Any person who is engaged in the salvage, recycling, purchase, or sale of scrap metal and who possesses any of the following items that were owned or previously owned by any public agency, city, county, city and county, special district, or private utility that have been stolen or obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, or fails to report possession of the items pursuant to Section 21609.1 of the Business and Professions Code, is guilty of a crime:
(1) A fire hydrant or any reasonably recognizable part of that hydrant.
(2) Any fire department connection, including, but not limited to, reasonably recognizable bronze or brass fittings and parts.
(3) Manhole covers or lids, or any reasonably recognizable part of those manhole covers and lids.
(4) Backflow devices and connections to that device, or any part of that device.
(b) A person who violates subdivision (a) shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, be subject to a criminal fine of not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000).
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 656, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 2013.)
497.
Every person who, in another state or country steals or embezzles the property of another, or receives such property knowing it to have been stolen or embezzled, and brings the same into this state, may be convicted and punished in the same manner as if such larceny, or embezzlement, or receiving, had been committed in this state.
(Amended by Stats. 1905, Ch. 554.)
498.
(a) The following definitions govern the construction of this section:
(1) “Person” means any individual, or any partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity.
(2) “Utility” means any electrical, gas, or water corporation as those terms are defined in the Public Utilities Code, and electrical, gas, or water systems operated by any political subdivision.
(3) “Customer” means the person in whose name utility service is provided.
(4) “Utility service” means the provision of electricity, gas, water, or any other service provided by the utility for compensation.
(5) “Divert” means to change the intended course or path of electricity, gas, or water without the authorization or consent of the utility.
(6) “Tamper” means to rearrange, injure, alter, interfere with, or otherwise prevent from performing a normal or customary function.
(7) “Reconnection” means the reconnection of utility service by a customer or other person after service has been lawfully disconnected by the utility.
(b) Any person who, with intent to obtain for himself or herself utility services without paying the full lawful charge therefor, or with intent to enable another person to do so, or with intent to deprive any utility of any part of the full lawful charge for utility services it provides, commits, authorizes, solicits, aids, or abets any of the following shall be guilty of a misdemeanor:
(1) Diverts or causes to be diverted utility services, by any means.
(2) Prevents any utility meter, or other device used in determining the charge for utility services, from accurately performing its measuring function by tampering or by any other means.
(3) Tampers with any property owned by or used by the utility to provide utility services.
(4) Makes or causes to be made any connection with or reconnection with property owned or used by the utility to provide utility services without the authorization or consent of the utility.
(5) Uses or receives the direct benefit of all or a portion of utility services with knowledge or reason to believe that the diversion, tampering, or unauthorized connection existed at the time of that use, or that the use or receipt was otherwise without the authorization or consent of the utility.
(c) In any prosecution under this section, the presence of any of the following objects, circumstances, or conditions on premises controlled by the customer or by the person using or receiving the direct benefit of all or a portion of utility services obtained in violation of this section shall permit an inference that the customer or person intended to and did violate this section:
(1) Any instrument, apparatus, or device primarily designed to be used to obtain utility services without paying the full lawful charge therefor.
(2) Any meter that has been altered, tampered with, or bypassed so as to cause no measurement or inaccurate measurement of utility services.
(d) If the value of all utility services obtained in violation of this section totals more than nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or if the defendant has previously been convicted of an offense under this section or any former section which would be an offense under this section, or of an offense under the laws of another state or of the United States which would have been an offense under this section if committed in this state, then the violation is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or in the state prison.
(e) This section shall not be construed to preclude the applicability of any other provision of the criminal law of this state.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, 3rd Ex. Sess., Ch. 28, Sec. 24. Effective January 25, 2010.)
499.
(a) Any person who, having been convicted of a previous violation of Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code, or of subdivision (d) of Section 487, involving a vehicle or vessel, and having served a term therefor in any penal institution or having been imprisoned therein as a condition of probation for the offense, is subsequently convicted of a violation of Section 499b, involving a vehicle or vessel, is punishable for the subsequent offense by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year or the state prison for 16 months, two, or three years.
(b) Any person convicted of a violation of Section 499b, who has been previously convicted under charges separately brought and tried two or more times of a violation of Section 499b, all such violations involving a vehicle or vessel, and