Laundry Coin Thief Behind Bars

A Palm Desert man was behind bars today on suspicion of stealing coins from a Desert Hot Springs apartment building’s laundry room.

Robert “Bob” Cosmo Eliante, 52, was taken into custody just before 4 p.m. Thursday at his Palm Desert apartment at 50001 Highway 74 on suspicion of 10 counts of burglary, according to jail records.

DHS police began investigating the thefts from a laundry room of a building in the 66000 block of Ironwood Drive June 2, which was when Eliante was identified as a suspect.

Investigators discovered nine similar thefts at the building, starting Feb. 3, according to police.

Eliante was being held in lieu of $5,000 at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Eliante’s criminal history in the Coachella Valley dates back to the early 1990s.

In 1994, he pleaded guilty to a felony county of assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury. Eliante was sentenced to formal probation, according to court records.

Eliante pleaded guilty in 1998 to forgery, and he was also sentenced to probation.

He pleaded guilty in 2007 to two counts of burglary and possession of a controlled substance, and was sentenced to three years probation, the records state.