Final defendant in La Quinta retail theft case pleads guilty

The last of three people suspected of stealing $2,300 in merchandise from a La Quinta cosmetics store pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge today.

Derrick Yanders, 19, entered a guilty plea on Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to a misdemeanor charge of grand theft of over $950. He was immediately sentenced to 12 months of probation and 60 days of custody, including 59 days in a work release program.

The terms of Yanders' probation also included a 16-hour theft course, paid restitution and not being within 100 yards of Ulta Beauty, according to case records.

Co-defendant Khamyra Smith, 20, of Moreno Valley, pleaded guilty in July to the same charge as Yanders. Judge Arthur Hester immediately sentenced Smith to 12 months of formal probation, according to Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Eastvale resident Chynae Welch, 19, pleaded guilty in December to a felony count of grand theft over $950 and was sentenced to two years of formal probation.

The other co-defendant, 19-year-old Derrick Yanders of Fontana, pleaded not guilty to the same charge on Feb. 27. Yanders' next scheduled court appearance is a felony settlement conference on Sept. 13.

Deputies from the Thermal sheriff's station responded at 4:10 p.m. Dec. 13, 2023, to a tip from the Palm Desert Special Enforcement Team about a car that was associated with organized retail theft operation in Palm Desert, Wildomar and Lake Elsinore, according to a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.   

Deputies responded to the 78700 block of Highway 111 in La Quinta and, with assistance from the Indian Wells and Palm Desert Enforcement Teams, were able to find the vehicle in the parking lot of a shopping center, according to the statement.

"They detained the subjects after they exited a store,'' the statement read. "The investigation found the subjects removed $2,300 of merchandise from a business and made no attempts to pay for the merchandise."  

According to a declaration in support of Yanders' arrest, the suspects were caught with three bags of cosmetics and were seen, on video, taking the items without paying. Welch's vehicle also had two more bags of Ulta cosmetics from a different store, according to the document.

Yanders was initially booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, but was released the following day on a $10,000 bond, according to inmate records. Smith and Welch were released on their own recognizance the day of their arraignments.