Sentencing delayed for serial burglar
Sentencing was postponed Monday for a Cathedral City man convicted of 22 felonies and two misdemeanors for carrying out a five-month burglary spree across the Coachella Valley.
Arthur Bryan Byrd, 41, was convicted June 17 of 14 counts of burglary, three counts of resisting arrest, two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of petty theft and one count each of grand theft, being a felon in possession of ammunition and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A probation and sentencing report was submitted to the court on Monday, but the sentencing hearing was delayed until Aug. 14 at the request of the defense.
During closing arguments, Deputy District Attorney Deana L. Bohenek portrayed Byrd as a highly sophisticated burglar who would break into cars and residences at lightning speed, steal everything of value, then cover his tracks, not leaving so much as a fingerprint — all while strung out on crystal meth.
“You got to see inside the life of a professional thief,” she told the jury. “That’s his job. That’s what he does for a living. He’s quite good at it.”
In all, 18 victims lost thousands of dollars worth of electronics, firearms, cash and other property stolen during burglaries in Cathedral City, Palm Desert, Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage. The crime scenes included the parking lot of The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, the San Marino housing development in Rancho Mirage and the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa, also in Rancho Mirage.
Prosecutors said Byrd used spark plugs to smash car windows, typically in darkened lots, and ransacked passenger vehicles, a recreational vehicle and a camping trailer. In other cases, he stole property from unlocked cars. In one instance, he used a stolen key in an attempted burglary of a multi-unit residential structure, prosecutors said.
After his arrest, many of the stolen items were found in a storage locker stuffed with so much property that multiple trucks were needed to haul it away, the prosecutor said.
A parade of victims took to the stand during the three-week trial, but it was two days of testimony by Byrd’s 21-year-old accomplice and girlfriend, Kayla Long, that helped authorities place the defendant at many of the crime scenes.
Detectives identified a black Kia vehicle registered to Long in surveillance footage, set up a stakeout at a Cathedral City location she frequented, and moved in when she and Byrd showed up together.
Deputy Public Defender Naomi Coady conceded most of the charges but told jurors they should find Byrd not guilty on three counts of resisting arrest, two counts of residential burglary and the drug smuggling charge.
Coady told jurors Long was given a suspended prison sentence in exchange for helping convict Byrd and said the woman appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine while testifying. Coady also said the 12 grams of methamphetamine found in Byrd’s pocket was for personal use and that the officers illegally beat the 140-pound defendant during the arrest.
Byrd has an extensive criminal history and following his latest convictions, Superior Court Judge Victoria E. Cameron ruled he was in violation of his probation on three other cases. Penalties for those violations will be addressed during his sentencing.
