Gun Theft Arrest

Santa Maria - January 5th, 2009

A Santa Maria man is facing burglary charges for the theft of nearly fifty guns and knives from a private residence in Solvang.

On Saturday, December 20, 2008 the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Dept. was informed that a man had tried to sell nearly two dozen guns at an indoor shooting range/gun store in Oxnard. An alert clerk at the store contacted Oxnard PD which checked the serial number on one of the guns which turned out to be listed as stolen in Santa Barbara County.

The guns were among a number of items (guns, knives and jewelry) reported stolen from a private residence on the 2000-block of Village Lane in Solvang on Friday December 12, 2008 at approximately 7:30pm.

After the initial check revealed the guns had been stolen, Oxnard Police took the man, Stephen Christopher Zaharias (DOB 5/6/59), into custody. An investigation by SBSO Detectives led to the arrest of Zaharias on residential burglary charges. He was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on 12/21/08 and posted bail on 12/23/08.

A search of Mr. Zaharias’s home in Santa Maria turned up the missing jewelry and the remainder of the weapons. The case has been forwarded to the District Attorney.

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