The Sacramento Bee is reporting that a Craigslist ad led to a burglary arrest in a vacant Roseville home.
Burglary charges in Sacramento vary depending on many circumstances specific to each case. According to California Penal Code 458, burglary is entering a house or other structure with the specific intent to commit larceny or another felony.
That means the state must prove that a person or persons broke into a dwelling and it was their intent to steal from the homeowner, business owner or whoever owns the property. But they must show intent and that's first-degree burglary. Second-degree burglary is any other kind of burglary. And the stakes are high -- a defendant faces two, four or six years in prison for first-degree burglary and possibly a year in prison for second-degree burglary in Sacramento.
What sometimes happens in these situations is if officers find one person they believe committed a burglary, they then look at other area burglaries to try to determine if there are similar patterns in order to clear the glut of open burglary cases that are on the books. That can lead to a person facing multiple, and sometimes dozens, of burglary charges. Whether a person faces one charge of burglary or several charges of burglary, they must be well represented. Consulting with an experienced Sacramento Burglary Defense Lawyer should be the first step for a defendant facing these serious charges.
In this case, a Sacramento man has been arrested after police allege he broke into a vacant home that was listed for sale on the popular website Craigslist. The alleged victim told police a water heater was taken from the home.
The alleged burglary happened in Roseville, where police say a house that was unoccupied had a new, tankless water heater, still in its box stolen from the garage, along with tools the contractor was using.
The contractor, who had been in charge of remodeling the house, searched the same Craigslist site for the stolen property and found one that was listed for sale that matched the item stolen from the garage.
He contacted police and then contacted the person who put the water heater for sale on the website in order to meet to buy it. Officers met the seller, confirmed the water heater was the one stolen and arrested a 37-year-old man.
The police department reports there were burglary tools and a list of area homes for sale inside the man's truck. He is charged with suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and possession of burglar's tools.
What must be considered in this case is the connection between the house and the man who was trying to sell the water heater. If there are no witnesses who can 100 percent identify the man as the one who broke into the garage, the case may be tough for prosecutors.
For one, if there's no nexus -- or link -- between the burglarized house and the man it may be tough to prove he was the one who broke into the garage. Maybe he was shopping for a water heater and bought one that he didn't know was stolen. With Internet access on people's phones, a purchase could have been made very easily. It's also unclear from the news report how police connected the stolen water heater to the house.
There are possible explanations to the list of vacant homes in the area, as well. Simply suspecting a person was involved in a crime isn't the same as proving they were.
If you need to speak to a criminal defense lawyer in San Francisco or Sacramento, contact Bonilla & Cintean at 916-447-7842 or 415-946-4020 for a free consultation.
Additional Resources:
Craigslist ad leads to arrest in burglary of vacant Roseville home, by Cathy Locke, The Sacramento Bee
