Traveling burglar sentenced to 13 years

A man convicted of flying to the Bay Area from Arizona to burglarize a Woodside home in 2012 was sentenced to 13 years in prison Tuesday afternoon, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

A jury found Bradley Sullivan, 52, guilty of burglary and grand theft in July for the March 28, 2012, burglary.

Sullivan and 49-year-old Michael Wallen had flown to the Bay Area from Glendale, Arizona, on a travel package arranged by Sullivan’s girlfriend. They rented a car and drove to Woodside, intending to burglarize homes in the area.

They were captured on surveillance footage getting out of the car in front of the burglarized home. One of them went inside while the other covered up the car’s license plate, but by then it had already been captured on camera.

A year later detectives served a search warrant on their Arizona home and found some of the stolen jewelry – but not all of the $30,000 to $50,000 worth that had been taken.

Judge Donald Ayoob sentenced Sullivan to 13 years in prison today, Wagstaffe said. He will not be eligible for early release until he’s served 80 percent of his sentence because of a prior conviction, Wagstaffe said:

“That’s a good sentence, we were quite pleased. … He’s a career criminal type of guy who deserves to be off our streets.”

Wallen, however, avoided such a stiff sentence. Shortly before Sullivan’s trial started, Wallen pleaded no contest to burglary and grand theft and was later sentenced to only three years in prison.

Bay City News

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