Joshua Tree, CA– At 2:26 a.m. on Monday, March 18, 2013, Sheriff’s Dispatch received a report of shots fired at the 8500 block of Weaver Ln in Joshua Tree. Through investigation, deputies learned that the suspect burglar , Maurice Lewis, had parked his vehicle in an isolated area down the road from the victim’s residence. Dressed in women’s clothing, wearing a mask and wielding a samurai sword, Lewis walked a distance of 150 yards from his vehicle, through the desert, to the back yard of a home/property where he set off a motion alarm.
The victim alerted by the alarm and frustrated at being the victim of eight separate, recent thefts at his residence, armed himself with his 12 gauge shotgun and confronted Lewis just outside his front door. The victim ordered Lewis to the ground and Lewis refused to comply. The victim fired a warning shot in Lewis’ direction, and Lewis fled on foot, losing both shoes in the process.
A short time later, deputies contacted Lewis at his nearby residence on Park Blvd with cactus and injuries to his bare feet consistent with running through the desert. Deputies recovered stolen property belonging to the victim in Lewis’s front yard where deputies learned Lewis had been selling stolen property at a “perpetual yard sale.”
Lewis was arrested for possession of stolen property and booked into the Morongo Basin Jail.
Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department Morongo Basin Station at (760) 366-4175. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may contact WE-TIP at 1-888-78-CRIME.
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Now that is one hilarious story!!!
Hard to outrun a 12 gauge shotgun in high heels!Amazing report!
It was the samurai sword that gave him away. Any woman knows you never carry your samurai sword when wearing heels…a mask maybe, but not the sword.
Maurice Lewis is lucky homeowner didn’t shoot him when he refused to get on the ground. I wonder what load of shell homeowner had…
The shotgun has the ability to shoot so many different types of ammo appropriate for the job at hand, for example from bird shot, buckshot to slugs.
During a quail hunting trip on a private ranch, former Vice President Dick Chaney shot his lawyer friend in the face. That was like getting hit with BB’s in the face. I’m sure that hurt.
Slugs are shells loaded with a single, heavy, “bullet.”
Had Maurice been shot with a slug, he would have a hole in him the size of a cannon ball. I’d say homeowner was using good judgement by not killing this incompetent fool. Be prepared for an extra kick with slugs.
A guy seldom gets a free kill shot like that…. Who would have argued about shooting some guy in a dress, wearing a mask, welding a Samurai Sword? I mean that is a clear reason to shoot the guy in my book. “he lunged at me with the sword and I felt threatened..” I would have said. One round center mass.
Dan. Don’t be so darn touchy about Dick Chaney. No offense intended.
It appears that self defense was not an issue when Maurice turned and ran in the opposite direction. That was not a “free kill shot”. It’s always best to not kill someone. Homeowner made a prudent choice.
Sorry you were offended. That was not my intent. My intent was to show there are big differences in your choice of home protection shotgun. One local self defense expert discourages using lethal loads, but opts for bird shot.
That is debatable.
I suppose it could have been worse…. You could have turned it to a lament about 29 Palms Fire Department or a springboard to a comment on Measure U. So I guess I can take heart in that.
Dan, this will cheer you up. I promise. You will gut-laugh your way through the funniest (short) video ever seen on the internet.
A video of an undercover racing driver terrifying a car salesman by putting a sportscar through its paces on a test drive is going viral online.
The clip of Nascar driver Jeff Gordon’s wild test drive prank has notched up an incredible 5.2 million views on YouTube in just two days.
Gordon donned a fake goatee beard for the stunt so that he would not be recognised by the salesman as he checked out a high-powered Camaro sportscar.
Gordon put the sportscar through gut-wrenching maneuvers and a thrill ride the salesman will never forget:
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Racing_driver_terrifies_car_salesman
How you turn a funny crime story into a political screed disgusts me.
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