Riverside County man sentenced for string of burglaries targeting Los Angeles cemetery visitors
A Riverside County man was sentenced to four years in prison for a string of burglaries targeting visitors at Los Angeles-area cemeteries over the last year.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said that David Bassett, 44 of Rancho Cucamonga, pleaded no contest to felony burglarizing multiple cars at cemeteries "as grieving families or friends visited loved ones and attended funerals."
They stated that the crimes happened between Feb. 5 2023 and Feb. 25, 2024 at two Forest Lawn cemeteries and the Oakwood Memorial Park and Cemetery. He would break into vehicles parked at the facilities and take items from inside. In some incidents, prosecutors said he would then go on to use stolen credit cards that were taken during the break-ins.
"The actions of this individual are despicable," said LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman in a statement. "Preying on people in their most vulnerable moments — while they're mourning and paying their respects — is beyond reprehensible. Let this be a warning: if you exploit the grief of others for personal gain, you will be caught, and you will be prosecuted."
Bassett was sentenced to four years after he pled no contest to four counts of felony second-degree burglary of a vehicle.
Back in November of last year, Chino Hills Police Department officers who arrested Bassett said that he was working with two others. They were identified as fellow Rancho Cucamonga residents Jimmy Griffin, 36, and Angela Desiderato, 42.
The three were arrested on Nov. 27, 2024 after a CHPD investigation into a car burglary outside of a post office pointed them to Bassett and Griffin. While serving a search warrant at a Rancho Cucamonga home, they not only found the victim's stolen property from the post office but "evidence to indicate these suspects were involved in several other unsolved thefts."
Those items included stolen purses, credit cards, identification cards, passports, coins, sports memorabilia and designer sunglasses.
The status of cases against Griffin and Desiderato were not immediately known.
