Corona Woman, Cohort Charged In Desert Robbery

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A man and a woman suspected of committing a robbery in an unincorporated area of Riverside County near Blythe pleaded not guilty Wednesday to robbery charges.

Anthony Stallings, 28, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and 32-year-old Charity Burnley of Corona were each charged with two felony counts of robbery, according to court records. Burnley was additionally charged with one misdemeanor count of possessing controlled substances.

They pleaded not guilty to their respective charges Wednesday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Deputies responded at 5:09 p.m. Aug. 26 to a report of a robbery in the 13000 block of Mesa Drive in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, according to Sgt. Varon Potter of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

The suspects "entered the location, started a verbal altercation with employees, and proceeded to take multiple items," Potter wrote in a statement. "During the theft, Burnley grabbed an employee and threatened to shoot them."

Stallings and Burnley then allegedly fled the scene in a grey sedan, which was subsequently found by officers of the Blythe Police Department in the area of Hobson Way and Neighbors Boulevard, according to Potter. Officers conducted a traffic stop and took the two into custody without incident.

Burnley was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside and Stallings was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, according to court records. They both remain held on $30,000 bail.