EASTVALE: Juvenile arrested after stealing $1,000 cell phone from business

EASTVALE — A juvenile officials allege stole an expensive cellular phone from a business was arrested Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 9, after a deputy spotted the minor fleeing the area on Interstate 15. The theft happened at a business on the 12000 block of Limonite Avenue, near Pats Ranch Road, in Eastvale.

Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Eastvale Police Station were dispatched to the unidentified business minutes after 1 p.m., after receiving reports of a grand theft from the business, Riverside Sheriff’s Sergeant Richard Heard explained after the incident and arrest.

During their initial investigation deputies learned the suspect, who was later identified as a 16-year-old male from the city of Rowland Heights, entered the business and grabbed a cellular phone before fleeing from the store.

Employees at the business told investigating deputies the phone was valued at $1,000 and the suspect was last seen heading southbound on I-15 in a white van.

A short time later, a deputy who heard a dispatch broadcast regarding the theft and suspect’s vehicle description spotted a van matching the description heading south on the I-15 Freeway and conducted an investigatory traffic stop.

“The front passenger was identified as the juvenile that stole the cellular phone,” said Heard.

Deputies located and recovered the stolen phone, which was later returned to the business from where it had been taken.

The juvenile was subsequently arrested and later released to the custody of his parents and will face charges of grand theft, according to Heard.

 

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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.