Busy Burglars Burgle Wrighwood and Big Bear Cabins
Three Bell Gardens men were arrested and locked securely in the San Bernardino Pokey in April of 1953, after committing at least 60 burglaries: thirty cabins here and thirty cabins in Big Bear.
Cloyd James, Scott Skidmore and Jimmy Pashaa were involved in an extensive and systematic burglary scheme that stretched from the Tahoe and Placeville area to Big Bear and ultimately to Wrightwood...where they met the long arm of the law when special deputy Percy Bennett and others got involved.
The caper was easy; not only because most of the residents were weekenders, but because of the growth that was happening in town. Cabins were being built in increasing numbers and to accommodate the builders, portable living quarters were brought up. The trio of bad guys were in the business of moving these trailers up, and once the trailers were in place, they began looting nearby mountain cabins. The loot was stashed in the sleeping compartments of the suspects' modified pickup.
Because of this specific incident, a push was made to get full time cop coverage up here. First thing that had to be done, like in this present day, Wrightwood property owners had to raise their voices in protest...of course to the right people. If full time police protection was desired it had to be paid for through taxes. To secure this protection the funds had to be make available to the Sheriff's Office, the funds are appropriated by the County Board of Supervisors. Fifty-six years ago, in an effort to reduce the tax load of the community, the concept of a fire and peace officer (called a public safety officer) was being considered. A public safety officer was trained in fire fighting and was a first aid man and a cop all rolled into one. The town was still small, only being in existence for a little over two decades. It was doubtful that one public safety officer would be over-worked. Who knows if they were overworked, all we know was that without hardly a budget, and without real backup, one heck of a burglary ring was busted and nearly all the stolen items from sixty burglaries were recovered and returned to the owner.
