A transient was arrested Monday afternoon after a Sheriff’s detective caught him vandalizing air-conditioning units at the old Joshua Tree Elementary School. According to a Sheriff’s report, a neighbor called police after seeing Philip Donnelly, 22, inside one of the portable class rooms allegedly stealing items. When Detective Heidi Hague arrived in her unmarked car, she saw Donnelly with his head inside an air conditioner, cutting out the copper tubing and wiring. The Freon and compressor oil had been drained from the air-conditioner units. The report states that despite being caught red-handed, Donnelly denied being responsible for the damage. Philip Donnelly was arrested for vandalism, booked into the Morongo Basin Jail, with his bail set at $25,000.
