A band of thieves caught red-handed during a high-stakes heist in Rancho Mirage now face a million-dollar bail after deputies busted them while they were allegedly loading up on pricy power tools. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department swooped in on the crooks on Wednesday evening at a business on Monterey Avenue after receiving a tip about a theft in progress.
The suspects, caught in the act of slicing through locked cages and cramming garbage bins with the loot, couldn't escape the lawmen who blanketed the area, ensuring no one could make a break for it; arrested were Feliciano Gonzalez, 40, of Perris, Eric Arias, 35, of Colton, and Felipe Chavez, 41, of San Bernardino. It turns out these aren't your garden-variety shoplifters, as cops think they've been pulling similar gigs throughout the Golden State for months, behind a series of crimes that mirrored the flagrancy of this latest caper.
The trio is now cooling their heels at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio, each slapped with charges including commercial burglary, conspiracy, grand theft, and organized retail theft, per an official statement by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Their bail is no pocket change—a cool million bucks for each man.
Law enforcement is keen on learning more about the reach of this sticky-fingered syndicate, so they're asking anyone with a tip that might help them connect the dots on the group's past misadventures to get in touch with Deputy Cody Mayer with the Rancho Mirage Special Enforcement Team.
