An El Dorado County jury has convicted Brian Faddis and Rachel Leventin of first-degree burglary for their roles in 2019 when they removed a safe containing between $55,000 and $60,000 in cash out of the wall of an El Dorado Hills home.
According to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, El Dorado Hills homeowners came home to see a suspicious vehicle pulling away from the front of their home back on May 4, 2019. A neighbor informed the homeowners at the time that the man driving the vehicle had just come from their backyard.
The homeowners then discovered the burglar entered the home through a hole that was cut in the garage wall. They also found the wall safe in the closet had been cut out and stolen. The safe contained personal documents as well as the tens of thousands of dollars in cash.
Using DNA evidence found on a dust mask left behind in a bathroom, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office investigators were able to place Faddis at the scene, according to the DA’s Office. Further investigation revealed Faddis, a Roseville area resident, had been pulled over in a vehicle with Leventin May 27, 2019, when Placer County sheriff’s deputies reported finding more than $26,000 in Leventin’s possession and two hand-drawn maps that showed an overhead view of the victims’ home. Additionally, Leventin was found to have a relationship with one of the homeowners.
The jury’s verdict came in the courtroom of Judge Thomas A. Smith in the El Dorado County Superior Court. Deputy district attorney Brittany Griffith prosecuted the case. The two will return to court for sentencing Nov. 17.
