**Update to the release sent on 3/10/2022 (see original release below)**
On March 10, 2022, at 3:30 p.m., the Kern County Sheriff’s Office received a call from an employee at a nearby farming operation in the Buttonwillow area. They said they were watching two subjects walking through their fields who they suspected of being the suspects related to this incident. Detectives with the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Rural Crime Investigation Unit, along with deputies in the Buttonwillow area, located Christopher Williams (46 years old), and his juvenile son (16 years old) in agricultural fields west of I5, near Wasco Way and Hwy 58. Williams and his son were placed under arrest without further incident.
Williams is suspected to have been involved in numerous copper wire thefts from agriculture water wells in the Buttonwillow, Shafter, Wasco, Old River, and McFarland areas resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Williams also led deputies on a pursuit on 03/01/2022 in stolen vehicle fleeing arrest.
Williams was arrested for multiple copper wire thefts, child endangerment, possession of a stolen vehicle as well as multiple warrants. Additional copper wire thefts and charges are pending. The 16 year old juvenile was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant out of Kings County.
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Rural Crime Investigation Unit at (661) 392-6071 or (661) 861-3110. Reference case number 2022-00028086.
**Original Release**
On March 10, 2022, at 9:45 a.m., the Kern County Sheriff's Office received information that a suspect in multiple copper wire thefts was in the area of Tracy Ave. and Hwy 58. The suspect began fleeing from private security who were in the area. Patrol deputies and detectives with the Rural Crime Investigations Unit responded and with the help of CHP, located the suspect vehicle abandoned on a dirt road south of Hwy 58 and Brandt Rd.
The vehicle involved was determined to be a stolen vehicle out of the Bakersfield area. Deputies and detectives, with assistance from the KCSO Air and K9 Units, searched the area for the suspect, but were unable to locate him. This case is still under investigation and detectives are trying to confirm the identity of the suspect. The vehicle matches the description of a vehicle used in several thefts in the past week.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Kern County Sheriff's Office at 661-861-3110.
