Man sentenced for burglaries during funerals

A man has been sentenced to four years in prison for burglarizing the homes of people who were away because they were attending funerals, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.

Brett Rogers, 45, pleaded no contest to two felony counts of first-degree residential burglary of two Los Angeles homes as part of a sentencing agreement, the district attorney’s office said Thursday.

Rogers had also been accused of breaking into a Glendale woman’s home and stealing her engagement ring while she was attending her husband’s funeral, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, but as part of the plea deal that charge was dropped. Rogers still must pay restitution for all three burglaries, Santiago said. The ring has not been recovered.

Rogers was arrested eight weeks after being caught on video on March 11 entering a home on Nagle Avenue in the San Fernando Valley, police said. He parked his car in the driveway, walked to the front door and rang the doorbell, which was equipped with a surveillance camera.

When there was no answer, he walked around to the rear of the home and tried to open the back doors, according to the LAPD. Rogers then walked to a garage door and kicked it open. When an alarm sounded, he fled in his car.

Four days earlier, Rogers was seen burglarizing a home in West L.A., police said. In both cases, the residents were attending loved ones’ funerals.

Police said Rogers also may have burglarized homes in Lakewood.

After releasing video footage from the attempted break-in at the Los Angeles home, police received numerous calls from the public that helped them identify Rogers.

He was arrested May 11. A restitution hearing is scheduled in January.