Guitar Burglar Caught
Most Guitars Recovered
June 3, 2010

On May 17th, a white dually pick up truck was seen parked in front of a residence on Desert View Ave. A witness took note of the truck and later contacted us with information that led to the capture of Michael Rutledge, 20 of DHS.

It turns out Rutledge, the truck’s owner, was inside a nearby home in the process of stealing nine guitars from the resident who was away at work. To get in, Rutledge pried open a metal security door. Once inside he removed and drove away with nine guitars valued in the thousands. Two days later, a patrol officer saw the same pick up truck driving eastbound on 7th Ave. The officer stopped the truck and identified Rutledge as the driver. Further investigation led to Rutledge’s arrest and the immediate recovery of four of the guitars in a nearby apartment. Detectives continued the search for the remaining guitars. They visited several pawn shops in the area. On 5-20 they found one of the guitars at “Desert Hot Springs Jewelry and Loan”. On 5-24 they found two more of the guitars at “The Exchange” in Palm Springs. As of this writing, seven of the nine guitars have been recovered and cleared for return to the victim.

The owner is ecstatic that so many of his guitars have been recovered; however, we would like to recover the last two for him. If anyone can help the police do that, call to 760-329-6411 x 314 (Detective Dave Topping), x 315 (Sgt. Dan Bressler), or Crime Stoppers at 760-341-STOP. The investigation is ongoing.