EXCLUSIVE: Repeat SF car burglar rearrested month after being released from jail by judge
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The case of a repeat car burglar being rearrested just a month after being released from jail by a San Francisco judge is highlighting why it is so difficult to crack down on car break-ins.
San Francisco police tell the I-Team's Dan Noyes that 27-year-old Robert Sonza is the suspect in several auto burglaries last week. He has a history of running from police, even crashing into their cars, injuring officers and a civilian.
Wednesday afternoon, Sonza appeared in court facing new charges.
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SFPD sources tell the I-Team that on Saturday evening, a plain clothes team watched as Sonza picked up a juvenile who had been breaking into cars at the Palace of Fine Arts and followed the pair to Oakland where officers had to use spike strips to make an arrest.
Some of Sonza's past victims are not surprised.
"What do you say? Surprise, surprise, surprise?" Dan Oldiges said. "I mean, I think we had this discussion a while ago that you keep doing the same thing, you expect you're gonna get the same results."
Sonza is charged with receiving or buying stolen property, accessory after the fact, possession of a firearm by a felon; it reportedly had a large capacity magazine, possession of ammunition and concealed firearm in a vehicle.
The Oldiges came to San Francisco from Indiana for a wedding a year ago when Sonza broke into their car stealing cash, a $1,200 iPad and a $3,500 laptop. They were disappointed the judge let Sonza out of jail after 11 months, especially because he was convicted of breaking into two other vehicles, including an SFPD bait car.
"Crime thrives where you allow it," Linda Oldiges told the I-Team. "Until the people of San Francisco started having - you know, not supporting these judges and DA's, mayors that are allowing these criminals to go free, I don't think you're going to have a change."
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Over the past five years, Sonza has been arrested more than a dozen times. He has convictions for car burglary, grand theft, hit and run, shoplifting, domestic violence and more.
Sonza has a history of breaking into cars and running from police. In February of 2022, he ran over an officer's foot with a stolen car at the Japantown garage.
Less than three months later, he rammed into two patrol cars injuring officers, damaging several houses, and a civilian's car before police caught him in Chinatown after a foot race.
"I, too, am disappointed," said San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
In August she expressed frustration with the judge who let Sonza out after 11 months in jail, and on Monday her office released a new statement saying, "Not everyone changes their behaviors after being criminally convicted. We will do our job and do everything we can to ensure that he faces consequences for these new alleged crimes."
The Public Defender's Office entered a plea of "not guilty" for Sonza and emailed the I-Team saying, "We know that police reports may capture a moment in time, but it takes evidence and investigation to understand the bigger picture of what may have happened to avoid unjust outcomes."
Another note on an auto burglary case that the I-Team has been following. In October, hidden cameras set up by YouTube star Mark Rober caught Charvel Augustine smashing and grabbing twice, the same night SFPD officers say they saw him breaking into several other cars. Just three days before those hidden cameras caught Augustine, a judge had released him on a different auto burglary case. This week, Augustine also appeared in San Francisco Superior Court wearing an ankle monitor for a hearing that set the date for a hearing that will set the date for trial in the car break-ins from last year.
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The I-Team asked Judge Harry Jacobs to discuss his handling of Sonza's last case. He said the code of ethics prevents him from commenting "on a pending or impending proceeding in any court." One final note, Sonza has another court date in Contra Costa County next week. He will be arraigned for fleeing a peace officer with reckless driving and resisting arrest there.
Here is the complete statement released by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins:
"My office will continue to do everything we can to ensure there are appropriate consequences and accountability to protect the safety of the public. Recidivism is a problem in the criminal justice system. Not everyone changes their behaviors after being criminally convicted. We will do our job and do everything we can to ensure that he faces consequences for these new alleged crimes which include not only receiving stolen property, but felon in possession of a gun charges. All together he is facing five felony counts in connection to this case and my office is seeking to have him detained pre-trial because of the public safety risk he poses."
The San Francisco Public Defender's Office released this statement:
"Our legal system is premised on the presumption of innocence because the law recognizes that it is irresponsible to presume guilt based solely on an arrest or charges. We know that police reports may capture a moment in time, but it takes evidence and investigation to understand the bigger picture of what may have happened to avoid unjust outcomes. It is our job to protect the due process rights of people who are accused of crimes, like of Mr. Sonza. That is why we ask members of the press and of the public to reserve judgment at the outset of cases to protect those rights and not to assume what the full body of evidence will show.
Mr. Sonza recently spent nearly two years of his young life in county jail, trying his best to take advantage of programming opportunities to learn and grow, but remaining in an environment that is fundamentally designed to punish and degrade one's humanity. Despite that, he has been regularly checking in with his probation officer to meet the responsibilities that he agreed to in the plea agreement that was offered by the District Attorney's Office in his former case. We intend to provide a vigorous defense in this new case where he has entered pleas of not guilty."
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