An armed man was taken into custody on Wednesday in a remote corner of Malibu Creek State Park during an extended search for a suspect in a string of burglaries in the Agoura Hills and Calabasas region of Southern California.
During an evening press conference on Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said deputies had arrested Anthony Rauda, 42, at around 3:20 p.m. without a struggle. Rauda was carrying a rifle at the time. Sheriffs say they will now investigate whether Rauda, in addition to being a suspect in the eight burglaries, might also be involved in a similar number of unsolved shootings in the same region, including the June 22 murder of Tristan Beaudette.
The most recent burglary occurred Tuesday, when someone broke into the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center and stole food from a vending machine. Sheriffs sent a patrol into the Santa Monica mountains shortly afterwards. Members of a search team soon found what appeared to be fresh tracks from a pair of boots leading into a remote ravine north of Mulholland Highway.
The deputies “heard movement amongst the brush,” McDonnell said, “followed by observing a male adult wearing black clothing, walking quickly, who resembled the suspect in the burglaries.”
Rauda is being held without bail for a previous parole violation, though McDonnell would not elaborate, except to say it involved various weapons violations and burglaries.
McDonnell said in each of the eight burglaries, dating back to October 2016, the only thing taken was food.
The 36-year old Beaudette, a scientist who worked for the pharmaceutical giant Allergen in Irvine, was shot in the head while camping with his two young daughters, 2 and 4, outside their tent at a campsite at Malibu Creek State Park. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Beaudette often took his family camping, and especially loved Malibu Creek State Park.
