SANTA ROSA – Friday, November 14, apparently started off with a drive from their home in Santa Rosa up north about an hour and a half to Geyserville for Mark Brian Hagan, 54, and Brandie Rae Radabaugh, 47. The drive along the Redwood Highway, otherwise known as the 101, is a pleasant one, through the Sonoma Valley wine country vineyards and farmlands, passing through Healdsburg and by the Francis Ford Coppola winery.
Whether they had a specific destination in mind when they made the trip is not known. They may even have been on an overnight visit to the small, historic tourist town, which has a population of under 1000 and features bed-and-breakfast inns, restaurants, and of course wine tasting. But, according to the Sonoma Sheriff’s office, while they were there, they broke into a home, burglarized it, and left. The only clue to their identity was the white Dodge pickup truck that was seen leaving the home by a witness.
The pair chose the wrong home along Mark West Springs Road in north east Santa Rosa.
They then made their way back towards home, but before reaching Santa Rosa, they turned off the Highway after passing through Larkfield-Wikiup onto Mark West Springs Road. They followed the road up into the hills as Mark Springs Road runs through the forest next to Mark Springs Creek. Again, it is not clear if they had a specific destination, or were just looking for a promising home to break into. But they found a home in the 1400’s that was not occupied, and pulled the white pickup into the driveway.
Unknown to Hagan and Radabaugh, the homeowner had a fairly extensive security system installed. When they arrived, the video surveillance system caught them getting out of the truck, breaking a window, and entering the house. At this point, the burglar alarm sounded, alerting the pair that they had been detected. They quickly fled without taking anything from the home.
The alarm alerted the Sheriff’s department to the break-in, and deputies were sent to the location. The homeowner came home as well, arriving just before the deputies and discovered the break-in. As the investigation began, they reviewed the video footage and were able to not only see the two suspects, but read the license plate of the truck. Property Crimes detectives took over the investigation, and ran the plates, finding it was registered to Hagan. They looked up an older booking photo of Hagan, and found he matched the appearance of the man seen in the video. (He had been arrested on New Year’s Day in 2013 on possession and being under the influence of a controlled substance.) They requested a search warrant for Hagan’s home and vehicles, and found the white Dodge pickup was parked in the driveway. They served the warrant at 9:30 that evening.
Brandie Radabaugh image from MySpace.com
They found Hagan was home with Brandie Radabaugh, whom they recognized as the second person seen in the video footage. They also knew her from a similar case in 2010 when she was arrested for burglary after being caught in home video. She had been released from prison only recently, and was on parole. Additionally, prior to that arrest, she had been charged in 2005 for grand theft, caretaker theft on an elder, fraudulent credit card use, resisting arrest, and battery on a peace officer, in addition to a probation violation at that time as well. The couple were both arrested on suspicion of burglary.
A search of the small home on West 6th Street in central Santa Rosa revealed stolen property identified as coming from the earlier Geyserville burglary. Hagan was charged with two counts of residential burglary, possession of stolen property, and conspiracy. He was also charged for having methamphetamine. Radabaugh was charged with two counts of residential burglary, possession of stolen property, and conspiracy. They were both booked at the Sonoma County Jail. Hagan’s bail was set at $80,000, while Radabaugh was held on no-bail status due to her parole violation.
