A real estate agent checking on a vacant house for sale discovered a Yucca Valley transient believed to be responsible for breaking into a pawn shop the day before. According to a Sheriff’s report, deputies were called to Gateway Pawn on the highway in Yucca Valley about 5 a.m. Saturday morning for a burglary in progress. There they discovered the burglar had cut a hole in the roof to gain access to the business. The burglar fled with several items before deputies arrived, but did leave some evidence behind. The next day, a real estate agent went to a model home in the 7300 block of Village Way in Yucca Valley and noticed the copper tubing for the heating and air conditioning system had been stolen. As she started to enter the house, she saw a man, later identified as Corey Barnes, 32, sleeping on the floor next to the fireplace. In addition, the home had been stripped of all the doors and faucets, and many fixtures had been damaged. The woman quickly left the home without being noticed and called law enforcement. Responding deputies determined that Barnes was in possession of several items that had been stolen from the Gateway Pawn shop the previous day, and evidence linked him to the pawn store burglary. On Monday, another resident in the 7300 block of Palm Avenue discovered that his travel trailer had been broken into over the weekend. The burglar had stolen a television and left behind a guitar bag, which was later identified as being stolen from Gateway Pawn Saturday. Corey Barnes was arrested for investigation of felony burglary, booked at the West Valley Detention Center, with his bail set at $25,000.
