3 Arrested In Palm Springs Pool Supply Heist: Police

PALM SPRINGS, CA — Three suspects were in custody Tuesday after being accused of burglarizing a pool supply business in South Palm Springs.

The Palm Springs Police Department responded to an alarm Sunday morning, two days after a similar alarm coincided with a report of stolen pool supplies, according to a department statement released Tuesday.

The suspects in the first report allegedly used a U-Haul truck as a getaway vehicle. After an officer noticed a U-Haul truck that matched the other vehicle's description heading north on Gene Autry Trail, police stopped the vehicle and detained 49-year-old Christopher Gwin of Riverside, 44-year-old Robert Firman of Riverside and 51-year-old Kevin Bean of Norco.

Police found pool heaters, pumps and other supplies in a search, according to the statement, which claimed that these items "represent a significant disruption to a major commercial burglary operation."

Gwin, Firman and Bean were arrested in the early afternoon, according to Riverside County inmate records, and were expected to be charged with felony counts of conspiracy and second-degree burglary, as well as a misdemeanor for possession of burglary tools.

The three men were booked into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio, and scheduled to appear at Indio's Larson Justice Center for an arraignment Wednesday.