Indio man fails to show for court date in storage robbery that included theft of child’s ashes
A man accused of breaking into an Indio storage unit and stealing items including the ashes of the renter's deceased son was absent from a scheduled court appearance, authorities said today.
Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office told City News Service on Wednesday that Indio resident Wally Venecia failed to show up at a preliminary hearing Tuesday, resulting in the issuance of a $100,000 bench warrant.
Case records indicate that a calendar add-on request was filed the same day, as the defendant is now scheduled to appear at a pre-trial hearing next Tuesday.
Following a guilty plea from co-defendant Taylor Spencer, 32, on Sept. 11, Judge Melissa Hale immediately sentenced Spencer to 24 months of formal probation and 270 days of custody at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Spencer received 13 days of credit for time served with the remaining 257 days to be served in a work release program.
A felony count of receiving stolen property was dismissed as part of a plea agreement, and an enhancement for committing a felony on bail or own recognizance was stricken. Spencer was initially set to be arraigned on the charges in December, but did not appear in court and a warrant was issued for her arrest, which was recalled in January.
Victor Banuelos, 54, of La Quinta was charged with three felony counts of being a convicted felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm, and one felony count each of receiving stolen property, possessing controlled substances while armed and possessing ammunition.
Juan Carlos Molina of Indio, 37, pleaded guilty Nov. 28, 2023 to one felony count of burglary and was immediately granted one year of supervised release.
The burglary occurred in November 2023 at Prime Storage in the 42900 block of Madison Street, according to the Indio Police Department. Detectives pursued multiple leads over the following days, during which two traffic stops and a search warrant led them to arrest Molina.
Detectives then allegedly found some of the victim's belongings at a Bermuda Dunes motel, prompting a search warrant to be served in Palm Desert, where Banuelos was arrested for allegedly having a large amount of the victim's property, an assault weapon, additional handguns and 1 1/3 pounds of methamphetamine for sale.
"Due to the continuing investigation, the child's ashes were dropped off at Cal Fire Station No. 81 (in Palm Desert),'' police said. "Detectives quickly responded to the fire station and contacted the Riverside County coroner, who was in possession of the ashes of the victim's child."
The ashes were delivered to the family, and two additional suspects --Venecia and Spencer -- were subsequently found and arrested in Coachella, according to police.
The three defendants were free from jail on varying bail bonds.
