Menifee Prowler
MURRIETA (CNS) – A 30-year-old man caught prowling around Menifee apartment complexes in what investigators said was an attempt to commit burglaries pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges.
Irving William Firtha Morrison of Menifee admitted one count each of trespassing and battery. The admissions came just as Morrison’s case was called for a preliminary hearing at the Southwest Justice Center Thursday.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Monterosso indicated he intended to dismiss a first-degree burglary count in exchange for Morrison’s admissions.
The judge scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 15 at the Murrieta courthouse.
Morrison is free on a $35,000 bond.
According to the Menifee Police Department, detectives initiated an investigation in early September 2024 after receiving reports of an unknown man clad in dark clothing, roaming through apartment buildings in the predawn hours, grabbing door handles and pushing on doors to find ones that weren’t locked.
“Several (security) recordings of this individual were shared on social media platforms,” police spokesman Chase Coburn said.
He said that, in one instance, the prowler “entered an occupied home through an unlocked door but quickly fled when the residents awoke.”
Detectives began carrying out surveillance operations in which they expected the prowler to appear, and hit paydirt in the early morning hours of Sept. 26 in the 30400 block of Town Center Drive, near Park Plaza Avenue, Coburn said.
“Detectives observed a subject matching the description of the person described in the previously reported incidents,” he said. “When detectives attempted to contact the subject, he fled, and a short foot chase occurred before he was taken into custody.”
Neither Morrison nor the officers was injured.
The battery count stemmed from a separate domestic violence incident that occurred in September. No details were available.
Morrison has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
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