By Rhea-Frances Tetley
Staff writer
Erik Eduardo Navarro, a 26-year-old who has been recently living locally in Crestline but is from Orange County, is being sought by Twin Peaks sheriff’s officials for several serious crimes.
On Tuesday, Aug. 25, at about 6:00 a.m., deputies were dispatched to the 23900 block of Straight Way in Crestline for a welfare check of a 71-year-old female victim. When deputies arrived on scene, they located the victim inside her residence. It was determined she had been assaulted with a baseball bat and sustained multiple injuries including a laceration to her forehead, cut eyebrow, swollen hands and a swollen orbital area to the point she was unable to clearly see.
Through investigation, the suspect was identified as Erik Eduardo Navarro, who had been living with the victim for approximately two weeks. The attack stemmed from the victim asking Navarro to leave the residence. During the argument, Navarro struck the victim multiple times with a metal baseball bat at various spots on her body and kicked her several times. Navarro fled the scene before deputies arrived.
Navarro fled the location before deputies arrived, so they are asking the public’s assistance in finding him. He has since threatened another adult female in town. He was seen Friday at the Crestline 7-Eleven but was gone by the time the sheriff’s deputies arrived.
Last week Navarro was the prime suspect in the theft of a Picasso line drawing from Molly’s Art Gallery at 24002 Lake Drive in Lake Gregory Village, Crestline. The theft was discovered Saturday, when Collins, the art gallery owner, arrived at the gallery. The door had been pried open with the door frame damaged, but the door was closed by the thief as he left.
Investigators said the thief obviously spent time in the gallery, knocking over an angel statue. He left behind important identifying evidence indicating it was Navarro. Collins is worried he is trying to sell the art piece; she is asking the public to immediately notify the sheriff’s station if they are offered the art piece.
The pen line drawing by the famous artist Picasso has been an art piece owned by Collins’ family for over 50 years. Her father, who was a police captain with the Los Angeles Police Department, had purchased the valuable Picasso art piece at an auction over 50 years ago, while Picasso was still alive, so the art piece has increased in value over the decades.
Collins displayed the Picasso in her art gallery this summer along with other beautiful art pieces by other famous and local artists. This loss is both significantly valuable monetarily and it is a big emotional loss to Collins as well. She feels betrayed by the theft of her family heirloom.
Anyone with information related to this investigation (Case No. 052600972) or anyone who knows his whereabouts is encouraged to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Twin Peaks Station at (909) 336-0660. Callers wishing to remain anonymous should call or text REPORT to We-Tip at (844) 909-3006. Online reporting is also available at https://mobile.catapultems.com/sbcsd/Sites.
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