Former Valley Resident in Custody for String of Big Bear Burglaries; Sheriff’s Department Contacting Victims for Return of Possessions

A former Valley resident was arrested last night, for a string of at least a dozen burglaries in Big Bear over the last several months. Big Bear Sheriff’s Station Deputies Craig Harris and Lonnie Siebert located the suspect, Carl Sands, in Victorville on December 2, retrieved stolen property from the high desert and Riverside, and booked Sands, age 35, into West Valley Detention Center on charges of possession of stolen property. According to Sheriff’s Captain Greg Garland, “This is one of our major burglary rings, which we’ve been working on for months. The detectives did all the good work, ’til 2 or 3 in the morning, driving all over to retrieve property and then booking [him] at West Valley.” Sands had allegedly stolen so much property from persons in Big Bear that, adds Garland, “We’ve now got a room, truck and trailer full of stolen stuff—10 flatscreen TVs, snowboards, he even had high-end couches.” San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department personnel are now in the process of contacting individuals who had reported their residences burglarized in recent months. Sands is in custody and though bail was set at $25,000, a prior warrant makes him ineligible to post bail for release at this time.