3 suspected in theft of high-value tools from Rancho Mirage business charged
Three men suspected of stealing high-valued tools from a business in Rancho Mirage and committing similar crimes throughout California for several months were charged today with one felony count of organized retail theft.
Feliciano Gonzalez, 40, of Perris, 35-year-old Eric Arias of Colton and 41-year-old Felipe Chavez of San Bernardino were scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon, according to court records.
Deputies responded at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday to a report of a theft in progress involving multiple suspects at a business in the 34200 block of Monterey Avenue, according to Sgt. Chris Gelinas of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
"The suspects were inside the store cutting locked cages and filling up large trash cans with high-valued tools,'' Gelinas wrote in a statement. "Deputies surrounded the business and took all the suspects into custody."
The three suspects, who are also suspected in similar crimes throughout the state, were all booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, according to Gelinas.
Gonzales and Arias remain held on $1 million bail bonds, according to inmate records. No jail information was immediately available on Chavez.
Anyone with information on the burglaries was asked to call Deputy Cody Mayer with the Palm Desert Sheriff Station's Rancho Mirage Special Enforcement Team at 760-836-1633.
