Copper Mountain Mesa Community Center targeted by multiple burglaries
The remote community of Copper Mountain Mesa is located in North Joshua Tree and stretches between Border and Lear Avenues, with La Brisa to the South and Giant Rock to the north.
Sometime between May 2 and 6, thieves broke into the Community Center through a small window in the dishwashing room and left through the front door. Contents of all the drawers in the kitchen were disheveled, the Treasure room was trashed and the burglars generally made a big mess. They stole the few bucks remaining in the donation jars and took many clothes from the thrift room while other items were strewn carelessly around the floor. Food items stocked up for the monthly breakfast were stolen, as were cleaning goods. The second time they broke in through the West entrance using a crowbar.
Between August 1 and 12 2026, the Community Center was broken into again – TWICE! They took more food items which had been replenished by then and trashed the carefully cleaned and rearranged Treasure room again. The thieves mutilated three doors and took whatever items were left behind from the last time. The costs of the damages exceeded $2,000; the break-in was once again phoned into the Sheriff’s department.
The Copper Mountain Mesa Community Center was built in the 1980s and serves as a hub for the Community. The monthly Breakfast, served on the first Saturday of every month, is a gathering place for Neighbors from far and wide.I spoke to Michel Cicero, President of the Copper Mountain Mesa Community Association and she stressed that some of the stolen goods were of historical and sentimental value.
“They also stole the cushions for our folding chairs that we use during breakfast. And those cushions were lovingly handmade by the original founders of the association, the Copperettes, who used to host our breakfast.
So in mid-June, when we held the community breakfast, we noticed, where are the cushions? You know, it wasn’t something to think of when we were cleaning up the broken glass and things. So I went to Walmart, and they had chair cushions on clearance.”
Michel filled the back of her truck with clearance cushions which later piqued the interest of an employee at the Rivian charging station when she stopped to charge her vehicle:
“And so I told the story about the break-in. And the person who was working just whipped out his phone and said, how can I make a donation? And made a sizable personal donation to purchase the cushions. And we had been trying to fundraise to get enough money to put in cameras, because that was the first thing the sheriff asked. But the employee at Rivian’s donation sort of sparked it, and then that day immediately we raised almost $800.”
Paul Rosenbusch from PWR AV and several Board members donated their time to ensure cameras, sensors and sirens were installed this past weekend.
If you see piles of cushions dumped in the dirt, you know where they came from!
Hopefully, any attempts to damage and steal from the Copper Mountain Mesa Community Center will be efficiently thwarted in the future.
