BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — The Kern County Sheriff’s Office has reported an increase in citrus thefts throughout the county over recent months. In January, detectives from the Kern County Rural Crime Unit gathered evidence suggesting that a black, older-model Chevrolet pickup truck was involved in several of these thefts.
On Thursday, February 6, 2025, at around 12:30 p.m., Rural Crime Detectives were alerted to a black, older-model Chevrolet pickup in a citrus grove near General Beale Road and Russell Street. With help from deputies from the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Lamont area, the vehicle was stopped near Buena Vista Boulevard and South Edison Road due to an expired registration and a false plate.
During the investigation, authorities discovered that the pickup’s bed was filled with oranges. The driver, Alfredo Salvador Acosta, 58, of Lamont, was arrested. Acosta was booked at the Kern County Jail for alleged grand theft of fruit and for having two or more prior theft convictions…