A Morongo Valley man was accused of burglary after deputies responded to an audible alarm at a home in Morongo Valley Thursday. According to a Sheriff’s report, the alarm company notified the Sheriff’s Department that someone had set off the alarm of a home in the 8700 block of Sundown Trail about 1:39 p.m. An arriving deputy found a man, later identified as Joseph Rodriguez, 39, walking in the street near the home. The deputy’s report states that the shoes Rodriguez was wearing matched shoe prints located on the kicked-in door at the home. In addition, a neighbor of the burglarized home said that Rodriguez had come to her door and asked for a glass of water, confirming that Rodriguez was in the area at the time of the burglary. The deputy states that Rodriguez was unable to explain what he was doing in the neighborhood, where he was at the time of the burglary or whether he knew the owner of the burglarized house. Rodriguez was arrested for investigation of burglary and booked into the Morongo Basin Jail with bail set at $75,000.
