Photo: Stock Image
Everyone needs a vacation once in a while, but travel plans can be problematic for home owners with pets. One solution, of course, is to engage the services with a trusted “house sitter” who will take care of both the home and the resident critter.
It was just such an arrangement that led to the engagement of Santa Barbara residents 30-year-old Joshua Rademacher, 29-year-old Brittany Silva, and 36-year-old Kyle Guilfoyle as house- and dog-sitters by a local homeowner. According to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Raquel Zick, the trio were “hired based on a recommendation” which engendered a certain level of trust from the homeowners.
That trust rapidly evaporated when the homeowners “received a fraud alert from their credit card company” as well as alerts from their online internet firewall which indicated “suspicious activity” on their accounts. The homeowner—out of the area at the time—promptly made contact with the Sheriff’s office and expressed their concerns.
At that point, on May 4th, detectives responded to the victims’ residence and made contact with the three house sitters. A brief investigation led to their arrests, whereupon they were each transported to Santa Barbara County Jail. Rademacher was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance while armed with a loaded firearm, possession of a controlled substance for sale, and conspiracy. Silva was booked on multiple drug, burglary, identity theft, grand theft, and conspiracy charges. Guilfoyle was booked on charges that include burglary, identity theft, conspiracy, possession of brass knuckles, and possession of methamphetamine.
“The dog in the care of the suspects was not harmed,” and was released to the care of a neighbor.
