SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A burglary at a local meat company led detectives to a Fairfield home where they found cash, jewelry, clothing, and a suspect in a series of burglaries across the Bay Area who had evaded authorities for weeks.
Sonoma County sheriff's detectives arrested Cristian Fota, 37, of Fairfield on suspicion of burglary and grand theft Sept. 3.
Fota had multiple outstanding arrest warrants across the Bay Area and Southern California for similar rural daytime burglaries committed in recent months, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The burglaries included an August break-in at Panizzera Meat Company in Occidental, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release on Facebook.
On Sept. 3, deputies located Fota as he left a rural residence, but he fled in a vehicle and eluded capture after a pursuit, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Later that evening, Sonoma County Property Crimes detectives served a search warrant at a residence in the 700 block of Nightingale Drive in Fairfield.
The Solano County Sheriff's Office, Fairfield Police Department, and Placer County District Attorney's Office assisted.
Detectives detained Fota at the residence and recovered cash, jewelry, and clothing that linked him to multiple burglaries, the Sheriff's Office said. They also arrested two other people at the residence on outstanding felony theft warrants.
Authorities transported Fota to Sonoma County and booked him into the Sonoma County Main Adult Detention Facility on suspicion of burglary, grand theft, theft with a prior conviction, and the outstanding warrants.
Detectives obtained a bail enhancement that set his bail at $245,000. Fota remains in custody.
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