Section 496a.

(a) Every person who, being a dealer in or collector of junk, metals or secondhand materials, or the agent, employee, or representative of such dealer or collector, buys or receives any wire, cable, copper, lead, solder, mercury, iron or brass which he or she knows or reasonably should know is ordinarily used by or ordinarily belongs to a railroad or other transportation, telephone, telegraph, gas, water or electric light company or county, city, city and county or other political subdivision of this state engaged in furnishing public utility service without using due diligence to ascertain that the person selling or delivering the same has a legal right to do so, is guilty of criminally receiving that property, and shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(b) Any person buying or receiving material pursuant to subdivision (a) shall obtain evidence of his or her identity from the seller including, but not limited to, that person's full name, signature, address, driver's license number, vehicle license number, and the license number of the vehicle delivering the material.

(c) The record of the transaction shall include an appropriate description of the material purchased and the record shall be maintained pursuant to Section 21607 of the Business and Professions Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 82, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2013.)