One suspect acquitted, another found guilty in Palm Desert mall robbery

A woman suspected along with a man and two juveniles of robbing a jewelry store at the Palm Desert mall was convicted today, while the man was found not guilty of the same charge.

Cleopatra Tredai Jones, 26, of Los Angeles was found guilty of a felony count of robbery Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to case records.

Case records indicated that Jones was sentenced to 36 months of probation, the terms of which included 301 days of custody.   

A robbery charge against co-defendant Mason Tyler Barron, 22, was dismissed on the same day, although Barron also pleaded guilty Friday to four counts of robbery, two counts of burglary, and one count each of organized retail theft with intent to sell in a separate case regarding events that occurred three months later, according to case records. He was sentenced to a total of 17 years and 4 months in state prison, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's office.

Deputies responded to the 72-800 block of Highway 111 around 5:15 p.m. on July 25, 2023, to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon, according to a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.   

"Deputies arrived and determined a jewelry store at the location had been robbed by four suspects shattering display cases with sledgehammers and glass-breaking tools,'' the statement read. "Witnesses saw the suspects enter a red sedan and deputies quickly located the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Monterey Avenue."  

The suspects were apprehended after the sedan collided with another vehicle, according to Milbrandt. The vehicle stopped working due to the collision and the suspects allegedly fled in the area of Monterey Avenue and Dinah Shore Drive, where Jones, Barron and the two juveniles were arrested.

Barron was subsequently booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center and held without according to inmate records. Jones was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility and held on $250,000 bail.

The juveniles were booked into Juvenile Hall, according to Milbrandt.   

In Riverside County, Barron had one conviction of grand theft over $950 prior to July 2023, while Jones has no prior felony convictions.