A Feb. 21 trial date was scheduled Wednesday for a parolee and his girlfriend accused of breaking into a Palm Springs residence of the woman’s prior employer, restraining and beating the 78-year-old homeowner and her caretaker, then ransacking the place to steal the senior’s valuables.
Juan Antonio Beltran, 29, and Itati Maribi Ceja, 28, both of Indio, were arrested in November 2018 following a Palm Springs Police Department investigation into the home invasion.
Both defendants are charged with robbery, burglary, elder abuse and kidnapping, while Beltran alone is charged with witness intimidation, being a felon with a loaded gun, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of using a firearm in the commission of a felony and victimizing a person over 65 years old.
During a status hearing Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Arthur Hester conferred with the prosecution and defense regarding scheduling, and both sides agreed to be prepared for trial proceedings at the end of February. However, the trial date is tentative.
Beltran is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, and Ceja is free on her own recognizance.
According to investigators, in the predawn hours of Nov. 14, 2018, patrol officers were sent to the home of Carolyn Auburn in the 2200 block of South Sunshine Circle following a 911 call pleading for help.
Auburn’s personal caretaker, Randall Bailey, testified at a May 2021 preliminary hearing that he and Auburn were dozing off in front of the television in the residence’s family room when Beltran allegedly burst inside, corralling the senior and Bailey at gunpoint, forcing them into another room and binding their hands.
Bailey alleged Beltran had “what appeared to be a gun” and said the defendant took his wallet, asking him “where’s the gold?”
Police allege that Auburn, who has dementia, was tied, gagged and assaulted during this time, although Bailey testified he was in the other room and did not witness it.
Officer Johnathan Mosley testified that a nurse later informed officers that Auburn had suffered blows to the face, causing swelling and the loss of two teeth. She was also vomiting blood, Mosley said.
No gun was recovered, although officers testified that they found ammunition in Ceja’s car near the location.
Officer Barron Lane testified that Ceja, like Bailey, was employed by the senior care service Home Instead before she was fired the day before the break-in. The defendant worked for Auburn over a two-week span before she was removed at the victim’s request due to performance failures, Lane said.
Bailey testified he was eventually able to free himself and call 911. Police converged on the location, surrounding the house, where the defendants were immediately apprehended trying to run out the back door, according to testimony.
The defendants claimed in police interviews that they had been chased by unknown suspects to the house, where Bailey offered them shelter, although Ceja allegedly later amended her version, admitting the robbery was her idea.
Beltran has documented prior convictions for burglary and felony evading.
Although Ceja has no priors, she’s currently separately facing a murder charge in a three-defendant case connected with the shooting death of Jason Diaz, who was found on the sidewalk in front of a home in Indio on June 24, 2020.