L-A Duo Locked Up in Indio; Behind Numerous Burglaries Mid-Valley; Part Of Nationwide Crime Ring

In July 2024, just 2 months ago, deputies received multiple reports of residential burglaries in  Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage. The suspects breaking glass doors and windows to get into homes.

Once inside, they stole high-valued jewelry and designer products, with an estimated stolen property value of $500,000.  The Indian Wells Special Enforcement Team identified the suspects as 39-year-old Anthony Pena-Gomez and 40-year-old Carlos Riquelme-Montecinos, both of Los Angeles.

The suspects are associated with an organized burglary group out of the Los Angeles area that commits burglaries nationwide. 

On August 27th 2024, deputies from the Coachella Valley served a search warrant on 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 Pena-Gomez and Riquelme-Montecino were booked into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio with bail set at  $500,000 each. 

Under proposals from some politicians to defund the police, these arrests would not have been made, and the investigation would not have been possible.

Pair of steel handcuffs.

Photo from Alpha Media Portland OR