Man targeted burglary victims on ethnicity and sexual orientation
A 26-year-old Palm Springs man suspected oftargeting people for burglaries based on their ethnicity and sexual orientationwas behind bars today.
Paul Claudio Piermartiri, 26, was arrested shortly after 5:30 a.m.Friday at a local hospital, where he’d sought treatment for an injury. Earlierthat morning, a 49-year-old man told police he was sleeping in his residence inthe 400 block of Bella Cara Way when awoke to find a man standing next to hisbed, Palm Springs police Sgt. Harvey Reed said.
“The victim reported that he yelled at the subject, who then ran out ofthe victim’s residence,” Reed said.
He said officers found evidence at the scene indicating the suspect mayhave hurt himself, and discovered two residences in the area had beenburglarized.
They contacted local hospitals while looking for the suspect, and foundPiermartiri, Reed said.
“The officers’ investigation led them to believe that Piermartiri hadcommitted the burglaries and targeted the victims based on their ethnicity andsexual orientation,” he alleged.
Reed said he couldn’t elaborate on the ethnicity and sexual orientationallegations because the investigation was ongoing.
Piermartiri was booked at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility inBanning on suspicion of burglary, hate crimes and a violation of probation, andis being held without bail. He is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday at theLarson Justice Center in Indio, according to jail records.
