Three young adults are behind bars following their arrest for organized retail theft in La Quinta as the Riverside County Sheriff's Department plays catch-up with a mobile band of shoplifters. The three suspects nabbed this past Wednesday are alleged to have hit multiple stores across the region, jacking merchandise worth thousands.
According to a release from the Thermal Sheriff's Station, Khamyra Smith, 19; Derrick Yanders, 18; and Chynae Welch, 18, are accused of stealing some $2,300 of goods from a business on Highway 111. The deputies, tipped off by the Palm Desert Special Enforcement Team, swooped in just as the trio, linked to a vehicle known for similar crimes in Palm Desert, Wildomar, and Lake Elsinore, was leaving the scene of the latest heist in a shopping center parking lot.
In a coordinated crackdown, the Indian Wells and Palm Desert Special Enforcement Teams moved in, detaining the suspects post-haste as they exited a store, goods in tow. They were arrested and booked into the John Benoit Detention Center, each on $10,000 bail.
Smith, from Moreno Valley; Yanders, hailing from Fontana; and Welch, an Eastvale resident, are all facing organized retail theft charges. This case has not yet closed, with the authorities calling for public assistance in the ongoing investigation. The Sheriff's Department urges anyone with crucial information to contact Deputy B. Martinez of the La Quinta Special Enforcement Team at (760) 863-8990 or to submit tips anonymously through (760) 341-STOP (7867), referencing incident #LA233470037. For further details, the Sheriff's announcement can be viewed on their official website.
