Damaging telephone, cable, or power lines
Official text prohibited actmental stateif conditionpenaltylegal term
A person who unlawfully and takes down, removes, injures, disconnects, cuts, or obstructs a line of telegraph, telephone, or cable television, or any line used to conduct electricity, or any part thereof, or appurtenances or apparatus connected therewith, including, but not limited to, a backup deep cycle battery or other power supply, or severs any wire thereof, or makes an unauthorized connection with any line, other than a telegraph, telephone, or cable television line, used to conduct electricity, or any part thereof, or appurtenances or apparatus connected therewith, is subject to punishment by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine, or by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, two or three years pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 and a fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
History: Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 332, Sec. 1. (AB 1782) Effective January 1, 2015.
Simplified explanation
Unlawfully and maliciously cutting, removing, or obstructing telegraph, telephone, cable television, or electric lines, or making an unauthorized connection to an electric line, is punishable by up to one year in county jail or a felony jail term of up to three years.