Banning Duo ID'd In Commercial Burglary Spree: Sheriff's Dept.

BANNING, CA — Four people accused of stealing circuit breakers valued at $180,000 from businesses in three Coachella Valley cities were in custody Wednesday on suspicion of burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime and other felonies, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department reported. Two of those suspects are from Banning.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Robert Garcia, authorities first became aware of the illegal activity back on Aug. 17 after a commercial burglary in the 77600 block of Country Club Drive.

"The investigation revealed seven other similar commercial burglaries in the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, and Cathedral City occurred where the suspects had stolen the circuit breakers to the electrical boxes of the businesses totaling a loss of approximately $180,000," Garcia said in a news release.

The subsequent investigation led to the arrests of Troy Christiansen, 44, of Kingman, Arizona, and Alexander Gonzales, 25, of Rialto on Saturday in Palm Desert.

Two additional suspects, Timothy Sikorski, 40, and Christina Sikorski, 33, both of Banning, were arrested Tuesday in San Bernardino.

All four are expected to make their initial court appearances this week.

Booking photos via Riverside County Sheriff's Department show suspects (clockwise from top left): Troy Christiansen, Alexander Gonzales, Timothy Sikorski and Christina Sikorski

— City News Service contributed to this report