Found sleeping in stolen vehicle, felon arrested in Thousand Palms
THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. — Authorities say a felon on probation was arrested after he was found sleeping in a stolen vehicle Friday afternoon, May 21. He was discovered parked with the vehicle’s engine running in the 73000 block of Varner Road.
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At around 1:15 p.m., Coachella Valley Violent Crime Gang Task Force officers were patrolling in the unincorporated community of Thousand Palms when they spotted a Jeep Cherokee that was parked with the engine running, Riverside Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Heredia later said of the arrest.
Charles Kirkpatrick was arrested after Gang Task Force officers found him sleeping in a stolen vehicle yesterday afternoon. RSO booking photo
Task Force officers conducted a records check of the Jeep’s license plate and learned the vehicle had been reported stolen from Cathedral City on May 10th.
Task Force Officers contacted a man who was found sleeping in the driver seat of the Jeep, since identified as Charles Carroll Kirkpatrick, 32, of Thousand Palms, and took him into custody without incident.
Kirkpatrick was later booked into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio on suspicion of vehicle theft and violation of Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) probation.
Online jail records indicate Kirkpatrick remains in custody, where he is being held without bail.
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
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. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s 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.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.