A judge in downtown Los Angeles Thursday sentenced suspected serial burglar Anthony Rauda to 160 days in jail for violating the terms of his court-supervised release.
He was given credit for 102 days in custody, so the 42-year-old Rauda only has to serve an additional 58 days. He will return to court Dec. 13 to face a possible additional sentence for allegedly being a felon in possession of a gun when he was arrested Oct. 10 near Malibu Creek State Park. Rauda was on post-release-conviction-supervision, or PRCS, after serving prison terms for burglary and weapons possession.
LA County Sheriff's Major Crimes Bureau detectives caught Rauda in a wilderness area north of the park after a series of unusual early-morning break-ins, during which an armed, masked burglar stole food from a number of buildings in the area.
Major Crimes and Homicide Bureau detectives have been investigating whether Rauda could also be responsible for a series of seemingly-random shootings in the same area over the last two years, including the killing of a camper in June.
No new criminal charges have been filed in those cases.
Rauda was armed with a long gun or rifle when he was arrested, the officials said. The armed, masked man on the security video became the focus of an intensive wilderness manhunt after an early-morning burglary Sept. 30 at a construction office near the intersection of Las Virgenes and Mulholland Highway.
Security cameras captured video of a masked man with a rifle slung over his left shoulder prying open a window and climbing inside. NBC News obtained still images from that video that showed the burglar was wearing a battery-powered headlamp and tactical-style clothing. Investigators also told NBC4 food was stolen, but valuables including cash were left behind.
The break-in was similar to several other food thefts in the same area, authorities said, leading detectives to consider whether the burglar was hiding out somewhere in the brush-covered hills of Malibu.
The gun seen on the security video also raised questions about whether the burglar could be responsible for a some of the seemingly random shootings reported in the same area over the last year, including the killing of
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Beaudette, who was shot while he slept next to his 2- and 4-year-old daughters in a closed tent at Malibu Creek State Park.
More than one type of gun was used in the series of shootings, law enforcement sources have said, so it was not immediately clear how many - if any - incidents might be linked to the gun seen in the security video.
