Sentence upheld for man convicted in Palm Springs crime spree
An appeals court panel today upheld an 82-year-to-life prison sentence for a former Cathedral City resident who barricaded himself inside a Palm Springs home, committed a carjacking and was caught with a loaded handgun near Palm Springs International Airport, in separate incidents all within the span of a few weeks.
Jody Wayne Noel was convicted in 2016 of eight felonies, including carjacking, robbery, resisting arrest and firearm possession for crimes that took place in August and September 2014. He had five prior convictions dating back to 1994 for such crimes as possession of controlled substances and vehicle theft, the three-judge panel from California’s 4th District Court of Appeal noted in its ruling.
The first of the three arrests came on Aug. 12, 2014, when Noel and another man took a taxi to Palm Springs International Airport. After the cabbie dropped the men off, he saw bullets on the rear floorboard and notified police. A Palm Springs police officer found Noel at the airport, but he took off and was arrested following a foot chase in which he was carrying a loaded handgun.
He later told officers that despite it being illegal for him to own a firearm due to prior convictions, he would always carry one to protect himself and his family “regardless of whether it was … illegal or not,” according to the appellate ruling.
Noel was back on law enforcement’s radar 10 days later, when he tried to steal a computer from a Walmart store in Palm Springs. When approached by a store security guard, Noel flashed a gun at the guard, then fled. He later drove to a home in the 2900 block of Chuperosa Road, where he barricaded himself for more than six hours before surrendering.
Then on Sept. 2, 2014, Noel and another man carjacked a resident in his driveway after the victim refused to let the men borrow his car. Noel got into the passenger seat, then “pulled up his shirt to display a gun tucked into his waistband,” the opinion reads.
He took off with the car, which was tracked down two days later at a Palm Springs home, where Noel was found and arrested. The house was the same address where the taxi picked Noel up to go to the airport, according to the appeals court opinion.
