23 Arrested Over 3 Days in Series of Unrelated Burglaries

Sheriff’s deputies in the Antelope Valley arrested 23 people over three days in a series of unrelated burglary cases, deputies said Friday.

The arrests in the Lancaster and Palmdale areas occurred on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and stemmed from 16 separate burglaries. Some of the break-ins involved more than one person, but authorities said they were not the work of a burglary ring.

“This was just one of those things where all the leads started coming together at one time,” said Sgt. Richard Wood, who heads the station’s burglary unit. Wood said the number of arrests is unusually high for such a short period of time.

Deputies arrested 13 men, four women and six juveniles--a 14-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy, two 16-year-old boys and two 17-year-old boys. The youths were turned over to juvenile authorities. Most of the adults were still in custody at the sheriff’s Antelope Valley station Friday. Some were released on bail.

Most arrests were made after detectives staked out homes and other locations for the suspects. Patrol deputies using descriptions from investigators spotted other suspects on area streets, Wood said.

In two cases, deputies got lucky.

Dan Holloway, 34, and Theodule Martin, 43, both of Lancaster, were arrested Wednesday after allegedly using an automated teller card stolen in a prior burglary to withdraw $800 from five banks, Wood said. The pair were arrested after cameras at two banks filmed the cash withdrawals.

In another case, Roberto Moya, 19, of the Littlerock area southeast of Palmdale was arrested for allegedly burglarizing a school construction site after deputies tracked footprints in the desert sand from there to a nearby house where Moya was staying, Wood said.

Wood said the arrests made only a small dent in the area’s burglary problem. There were 527 reported burglaries over the first three months of 1991, down 25% from the 700 reported over the same period last year.

Other adults arrested on suspicion of burglary were Michael McDonough, 28, of Palmdale; Randall Moakley, 18, of Leona Valley; George Gray, 21, of Palmdale; David Hamblin, 33, of Lancaster, and Charlotte Robinson, 34, of Lancaster.

Also arrested were Michael Small, 18; Brian Ketchum, 20; Bryan Miller, 19; Rhonda Warwick, 28; Sharon Bedford, 33; Vonzell Harvey, 40, and James Karnes, 23. Their hometowns were not available.

Accused of receiving stolen property were Gardell Ellis, 32, of Lancaster, and Lisa Mitchell, 31.