2 Palm Desert Men Tied To Over 40 Business Vandalisms: Sheriff's Dept.

PALM DESERT, CA — One of two Palm Desert men accused of vandalizing more than 40 businesses over the last two months remained behind bars Wednesday, according to authorities.

Brett Michael Wellard, 33, was arrested Tuesday in Rancho Mirage. He was booked into Indio's John Benoit Detention Center on suspicion of conspiracy and vandalism. He was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail, jail records show.

His alleged cohort, Chance Curtis Sawyer, 24, was free on $10,000 bail following his Tuesday arrest at the same Rancho Mirage location. He was also booked into John Benoit Detention Center on suspicion of conspiracy, unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm in public, possession of a firearm in violation of a court order, and vandalism, according to jail records.

The two men were nabbed after deputies out of the Palm Desert Sheriff's Station responded at 5:18 a.m. Tuesday to a shooting at a local business, according to the sheriff's department.

The two men were spotted driving away from the shooting scene "at a high rate of speed," but they complied with deputies' commands to pull over, the agency reported. Inside their vehicle, deputies found a slingshot, a firearm and metal pellets, according to the department.

Through further investigation, it was determined that Sawyer and Wellard were connected to nearly four dozen similar vandalisms in the area — businesses that were damaged by metal pellets, the sheriff's department reported. In Tuesday's incident, the agency estimated the damage to be over $150,000.

"The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has a zero tolerance for suspects interrupting the livelihoods of their residents," the agency reported. "Suspects will be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest for committing crimes and vandalizing businesses in our county."

Wellard is due in court Monday; an immediate court date was not scheduled for Sawyer, according to jail records.

Anyone with additional information about the alleged vandalism was asked to contact Deputy Kelly or Deputy Earley from the Rancho Mirage Special Enforcement Team at the Palm Desert Station at 760-836-1623/760-836-1633.