A Yucaipa man faced the music Saturday after his early morning heist plot at a local jewelry store set off alarms and landed him in handcuffs. Authorities snared Justin Flood, 38, booking him on commercial burglary charges for his alleged break-in at Marlene’s Jewelry on Yucaipa Boulevard.
According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, the incident went down around 3:30 a.m. March 30, when deputies, responding to a tripped alarm, discovered forced entry through a back utility room. Surveillance footage caught a man matching Flood's attire, right down to the sweatshirt and shorts, attempting to saw through the front lock and later wheeling a red wagon—laden with burglar's tools—along the side of Marlene's.
Found loitering across the street from the crime scene, Flood evidently did not make a fast enough getaway. The deputies detained him as he bicycled away, dressed in the same clothes and marked by the very debris from the store's punctured wall that betrayed his alleged misdeed.
Flood, found covered in insulating fluff and plaster dust indicative of the hole in the wall, was taken to the Central Detention Center after authorities stumbled upon a wagon filled with the tools of the trade—saws, pry bars—which an eyewitness earlier had seen him hauling.
The Sheriff's Department is keeping the investigation open and encourages those who might have more information to step forward. Tips can be channeled anonymously through We-Tip at 1-800-78-CRIME or their website.
