STOCKTON, Calif. — A cherry theft reported over the weekend in San Joaquin County may be connected to a larger, organized effort targeting orchards across California, authorities said.
Sheriff’s deputies were called just after noon Sunday to an orchard near Waterloo and Fairchild roads after witnesses reported seeing people picking cherries without permission on land owned by Morada Produce.
Deputies arrested three people at the scene, who they say had already picked 20 boxes of cherries, worth an estimated $2,000 and caused significant damage to the trees…