A Joshua Tree resident who had been the victim of eight recent burglaries shot at the suspected burglar during the burglar’s ninth visit to his home early Monday morning. A Sheriff’s press release states that Maurice Lewis, 37, of Joshua Tree, is alleged to have parked his car in an isolated area down the road from the home of Philip Kahre, of the 8500 block of Weaver Lane. Lewis, who was wearing women’s clothing and a mask, and carrying a samurai sword, then walked 150 yards through the desert to Kahre’s home, where he set off a motion alarm shortly before 2:30 Monday morning. Alerted by the alarm, Kahre got his 12-gauge shotgun and confronted Lewis just outside his front door. He ordered Lewis to lie down on the ground, and when Lewis refused to comply, Kahre fired a warning shot in Lewis’s direction. Lewis fled, losing both his shoes in the process. Deputies responded to a report of shots fired, and after an investigation, found Lewis at his home in the 6700 block of Park Boulevard. The release states that Lewis had cactus thorns in his feet and injuries consistent with running through the desert in bare feet. Deputies recovered stolen property belonging to Kahre in Lewis’s front yard, where he had been selling it in a perpetual yard sale. Maurice Lewis was arrested for investigation of possession of stolen property, booked into the Morongo Basin Jail, with his bail set at $25,000. Anyone with information related to the investigation should call the Sheriff’s Department at 760-366-4175.
