{"id":381860,"date":"2026-07-01T07:38:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381860\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T07:38:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T07:38:39","slug":"the-fresno-county-sheriff-coroners-office-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381860\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sheriff\u2019s detectives assigned to the Agricultural Crimes Task Force have arrested 54 year old Francisco Lopez of Reedley and 46 year old Josue Vargas of Orange Cove for felony grand theft of farm crops.<\/p>\n

Lopez has a bail set at $10,000. \u00a0Vargas, who faces additional charges related to D.U.I. warrants, has a total bail of $50,000.<\/p>\n

On Monday, detectives developed information about a suspect\u2019s vehicle tied to ongoing stone fruit thefts in Fresno and Tulare Counties. \u00a0Detectives worked with patrol deputies and Reedley Police officers to find the vehicle. \u00a0Later that night, a deputy stopped a matching pickup truck towing a trailer at Kamm Ave. and Road 56 near Dinuba. \u00a0The trailer was loaded with crates containing approximately 2,000 lbs. of Pink Moon Peaches, valued at $8,500. \u00a0Detectives responded and determined the peaches were stolen on Sunday from a farm in Tulare County. \u00a0Lopez and Sanchez were placed under arrest. \u00a0An additional passenger of the truck, 56 year old Jesus Chacon of Reedley, was also arrested for outstanding warrants related to drug possession and battery.<\/p>\n

The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office will be pursuing additional criminal charges against Lopez and Vargas due to the theft occurring within its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Anyone with further information on this case or a related case is asked to contact Sheriff\u2019s Detective North at (559) 600-8150 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867, www.valleycrimestoppers.org<\/a>\u00a0 You will remain anonymous and may receive a cash reward. \u00a0Reference case # 26-7616.<\/p>\n

The Ag Crimes Task force encourages growers to follow these tips to protect themselves against theft.<\/p>\n

Increase Visibility
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Install cameras overlooking entrances, loading areas and packing facilities.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Use trail cameras in remote orchards.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Ensure entrances and loading areas are well lit.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Trim vegetation around gates and roads to eliminate hiding spots<\/p>\n

Harvest Management
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Harvest ripe fruit as soon as practical.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Avoid leaving harvested bins in fields overnight.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Schedule picking crews so fruit spends the least amount of time unattended.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Keep loaded trailers in secured yards whenever possible.<\/p>\n

Secure Fruit Bins
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Mark bins with permanent farm identifiers.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Record the number of bins left in each block.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Conduct daily inventory counts during harvest.\u00a0
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Store empty bins in secured compounds.<\/p>\n

Clearly Mark Equipment
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Clearly mark all equipment and fruit bins with your farm name or unique identifier.
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Record serial numbers and photograph valuable equipment.
\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Use permanent, tamper-resistant markings whenever possible.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Francisco
\nFrancisco Lopez <\/p>\n

\"Josue
\nJosue Vargas<\/p>\n

\"Jesus
\nJesus Chacon<\/p>\n

\"Stolen
\nStolen peach crates<\/p>\n

\"Stolen
\nStolen peaches
\n \n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sheriff\u2019s detectives assigned to the Agricultural Crimes Task Force have arrested 54 year old Francisco Lopez of Reedley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-381860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}