An ex-con and another man accused of burglarizing massage parlor businesses in Riverside County and neighboring locations were charged Friday with multiple counts of burglary.
Marc Isaac Wideman, 30, and Joshua Cornelius Monk, 25, both of Moreno Valley, were arrested Wednesday following a two-month investigation involving sheriff’s detectives in Riverside County, as well as law enforcement officials from San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
Wideman and Monk are each charged with seven counts of burglary and one count of receiving stolen property.
They’re slated to make a joint initial court appearance Friday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Wideman is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside; Monk is in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Jeremy Harding, the pair is suspected of carrying out as many as three dozen break-ins throughout Southern California since August. Harding alleged that the defendants targeted mostly “therapeutic massage businesses,” from which they stole products and other property.
Detectives eventually tied the men to several alleged burglaries in the Riverside metropolitan area and initiated a surveillance, according to the sergeant. Shortly after midnight Wednesday, Wideman and Monk were allegedly observed breaking into a business in the 27000 block of Eucalyptus Avenue, where they were arrested without a struggle, he said.
Search warrants were served at their respective residences, where deputies allegedly seized some of the property stolen from prior break-ins, according to Harding.
Court records show that Wideman has prior burglary convictions and has served time in state prison within the last five years. Monk has no documented prior felony convictions.
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