Man Pleads Not Guilty to Desert Hot Springs Burglaries

INDIO (CNS) – A 30-year-old man accused of burglarizing nearly $20,000 from two businesses in Desert Hot Springs pleaded not guilty to felony charges Wednesday.

Edgar Martin Torres-Garcia was charged with two felony counts each of burglary and of vandalism, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to all charges Wednesday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Officers responded at around 6:30 a.m. Monday to the 12200 block of Palm Drive to a report of a commercial burglary that occurred about two hours prior at two adjacent businesses, according to Detective Sgt. Christopher Saucier of the Desert Hot Springs Police Department. The estimated total loss was about $20,000.

Crime scene investigators obtained a suspect vehicle description through surveillance footage, according to Saucier. A similar vehicle was subsequently involved in a possible traffic collision at around 8:30 a.m. in Atlantic Avenue.

The driver, Torres-Garcia, had a warrant out for his arrest in a separate burglary case and was arrested, Saucier said.

"During an inventory of the vehicle, officers located numerous items identified as having been stolen in the burglary," Saucier alleged. "Detectives authored and executed search warrants and subsequently recovered everything stolen from both businesses inside the car."

Torres-Garcia was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center, where he remains held on $350,000 bail.

Anyone with information about the burglaries was asked to call Officer Perez at 760-329-2904, ext. 380 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-341-7867.

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