Proposition 36 passed in California back in November and local business owners say this will hopefully help them crack down on repeated theft.
For small business owner Deprise Brescia, the summer of 2023 proved to be a strenuous one when she had caught someone on her security feed cutting down crafted butterflies out on display in front of her store on 10th Street.
Some of the butterflies had been made by local veterans who had been encouraged to get involved in art for relief of Post Traumatic Stress.
“[The thief] was charged with three counts of felony for the several thousand dollars worth of butterflies that he stole," Brescia explained. "It was unfortunately reduced to misdemeanor. He served five days in jail. He was ordered restitution $500 to the courts and $1,800 to the gallery. We haven't seen a penny.”
Brescia feels the punishment wasn’t strong enough for someone she says stole repeatedly from her until he was caught. With the passing of Prop. 36, that same type of theft could now be prosecuted differently.
“Now, as opposed to charging something with a misdemeanor, which maybe gets a citation in the field, they don't get booked to county jail," Paso Robles Police Commander Caleb Davis said. "Now, maybe it's a felony because they have prior convictions on that, as opposed to just leaving them maybe here in the city, they get to be booked in county jail.”
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office is encouraging business owners to deter would-be thieves by posting signs on their door about the county’s anti-theft task force and collecting photo or video evidence of the theft.
