A Yucaipa man Wednesday admitted his part in the theft of nearly two dozen pricey guitars from an Irvine storage unit and was immediately sentenced to three years in jail.
Derek Allen Dodds, 35, pleaded guilty to a felony count of grand theft and a misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools. Single felony counts of burglary and receiving stolen property were dismissed in the plea deal.
Co-defendant Brittney Christine Patterson, 27, is due at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach on Feb. 27. The Yucaipa resident is charged with one felony count each of second-degree burglary, grand theft and receiving stolen property and a misdemeanor count of possession of burglary tools.
The 21 guitars collectively worth $50,000 were stolen from Extra Space Storage on Laguna Canyon Road last Oct. 3. Irvine Police Department spokeswoman Kim Mohr said detectives found one of the stolen guitars for sale online and set up a meeting. The investigator met with the sellers at the Ontario Mills shopping center, where they were arrested, she said, adding that police found three of the stolen guitars in the couple’s vehicle.
Police also have surveillance video from the storage facility showing the suspects taking the guitars, Mohr alleged.
San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators found another 11 of the stolen guitars while executing a search warrant in an unrelated case, she said.