Organized Theft Suspects Arrested 

September 6, 2024 – Riverside County Sheriff’s Office officials report that in July 2024, the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station received multiple reports of residential burglaries in the cities of Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage. The suspects targeted neighborhoods and gained entry by breaking glass doors and windows. The suspects stole high-valued jewelry and designer products, with an estimated stolen property value of $500,000. The Indian Wells Special Enforcement Team (SET) wrote several search warrants that resulted in the identification of the suspects as 39-year-old Anthony Pena-Gomez and 40-year-old Carlos Riquelme-Montecinos, both residents of Los Angeles.

The suspects are believed to be associated with an organized burglary group out of the Los Angeles area that commits burglaries nationwide. On August 27, 2024, the Riverside Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau, Indian Wells SET, Rancho Mirage SET, and the Palm Desert Station’s Burglary Suppression Team apprehended the suspects and served a search warrant in the 400 block of Cottage Home Street in Los Angeles. The search warrant yielded a stolen handgun out of Burbank, stolen jewelry from the Rancho Mirage residential burglary, stolen jewelry from a residential burglary in Fullerton, burglary tools, fraudulent identifications, and multiple cell phones. Both suspects were booked into the John Benoit Detention Center on arrest warrants for burglary with a bail of $500,000. This investigation is ongoing, and no additional details are available.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call Deputy Kendall Martinez with the Indian Wells Special Enforcement Team at the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station by calling (760) 836–1625.

Reporting Supervisor: Sergeant Chris Gelinas

File # S241890019/J242010017

Source: Riverside County Sheriff’s Office