BUENA PARK : Man Charged With Illegal Decoder Sale

Buena Park police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of illegally selling and advertising cable TV decoder boxes.

Police were called after a Comcast Cablevision security official answered a local newspaper advertisement for the boxes.

“He told me he has boxes that get all the pay channels, all the premium channels,” said Chris Charalambous, the company’s security supervisor. “He wanted to know where I live so he could get a box compatible with the service in that area.”

Police said Clarence Frater, 42, of Buena Park was arrested after meeting Charalambous and a police detective in a restaurant parking lot and offering to sell them a decoder box for $320.

Detective Mike Borregard said selling or advertising the sale of cable TV decoder boxes is a misdemeanor carrying maximum penalties of a $10,000 fine and a year in jail.

Borregard said Frater told police that he had gotten the box by mail order and was selling boxes under the company name of K.C. Systems Corp. Frater was cited and released.

“I don’t think he’s sold an awful lot,” Borregard said. “He claims he’s been selling the boxes for three months.”

Borregard said it is the first such case that Buena Park police have handled.

The arrest comes as Comcast Cablevision, which provides service to Buena Park, is auditing its system in six cities to find people who are stealing service through illegal hookups. The audit program grants first-time offenders amnesty from prosecution.

“We are being very aggressive now, in regard to this theft of service,” said Steve Rosenthal, a Comcast spokesman.

But Comcast does not intend to offer amnesty to the man accused of selling the illegal boxes.

“Amnesty is set aside for people who are getting cable illegally,” Rosenthal said. “This was a little different.”