Testimony from Protect America employee helps convict burglars
By SSN Staff
Updated Thu May 22, 2014
AUSTIN, Texas—A Protect America employee's statements during the trial of two men accused of burglarizing the home of a customer in Los Angeles County, Calif. aided in their conviction, according to a company news release.
According to the release, in June 2013, two men kicked open the front door of the customer's home and set off an alarm. The men fled the residence and were apprehended nearby in possession of a large television. The men then claimed they found the stolen goods on the street.
At the men's trial, Jeff Butler, director of care operations for home security/home automation provider, Protect America, which is based here, “provided home security expertise.” He also “aided in establishing a timeline of events from the triggering of an alarm to the suspects' apprehension by police officers. This timeline made the defendants' claim (that a third party had burglarized the residence and discarded the stolen property on the street) virtually impossible,” the release said.
The release quotes Deputy District Attorney Patricia Swain, as saying, “The information provided by Protect America was instrumental to the successful prosecution of the case. Both defendants were found guilty of residential burglary—a violation of Penal Code 459—as well as grand theft personal property—a violation of Penal Code 487.”
The case was a third strike for one of the defendants and resulted in a sentence of 35 years to life, the release said.
Comments