Theft: motor vehicle: penalties.

Existing law punishes persons who have been previously convicted of specified motor vehicle violations with imprisonment in the state prison for 2, 3, or 4 years, or by a fine of $10,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. These violations include certain felony grand thefts of a motor vehicle. This bill would apply those provisions to a person who has previously been convicted of one or more misdemeanor violations. The bill would also prohibit a person subject to punishment under the above provisions from being granted probation, except in unusual cases in which the court finds that the interests of justice would best be served by probation. Existing law makes it a felony for a person to unlawfully take or steal, as described, an ambulance or a distinctively marked vehicle of a law enforcement agency or fire department, while the vehicle is on an emergency call and this fact is known to the person, or for a person to take a vehicle that has been modified for the use of a disabled veteran or any other disabled person and that displays a distinguishing license plate or placard and this fact is known or should reasonably have been known to the person. This bill would delete the requirements that the status of the vehicle, as an ambulance, law enforcement agency or fire department vehicle, or vehicle of a disabled veteran or other person, be known to the person. The bill would additionally remove the requirement, with respect to a law enforcement agency or fire department vehicle, that the vehicle be in use on an emergency call. The bill would also provide enhanced prison sentences for persons who steal a motor vehicle under specified circumstances. By expanding the scope of existing crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.