Crime Afoot Within Arm’s Reach of District Attorney’s Office

Crime--and gumption--may have paid off in small change for the thief who has been jamming pay telephones just outside the Orange County district attorney’s office. But if the culprit or culprits are caught, officials warned Monday, they could be in big trouble.

Several telephones in the Orange County Courthouse, including a couple at the second-floor entrance to the district attorney’s office, were found vandalized in a way that permits thieves to recover money later. Telephone company officials said they recognized the technique as an old ploy that prevents coins from being returned.

Statewide, the cost of such shenanigans is about $250,000 a year. Craig McDonald, a spokesman for Pacific Bell in Orange County, warned that the telephone company has prosecuted and convicted people on misdemeanor charges for jamming and damaging telephones.

‘Plenty of Deputies’ Watching

“We have special agents working for us that keep an eye out for things like this,” he said. Besides, he added, there are “plenty of sheriff’s (deputies)” around the courthouse who will be watching.

Pacific Bell also will offer an award “in certain instances” to people who report such vandalism. “We don’t reward in every instance,” McDonald said. “But for those who kind of, you might say, go above and beyond the call of duty to report vandalism, we will.” He added that the company has “a good track record” of catching pay telephone coin thieves.

So far, even though some of the rigged pay telephones were just outside the office of the district attorney, no one has spotted the perpetrators.

“We just don’t have any connection with them,” a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said Monday. “They are not our phones.”