Calif. news anchor, fiance charged in shoplifting case
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A California news anchor who works for a FOX affiliate is facing grand theft, burglary and conspiracy charges. On Monday, CBS Sacramento reported it had obtained court documents including alleged text correspondence between the anchor and her fiancé.
Sabrina Rodriguez was arrested Thursday and is on voluntary leave from her job with FOX 40 in Sacramento, according to the CBS station.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez drove her fiancé, Nicholas Gray, to San Francisco to help sell stolen goods in January 2013. In the months that followed, the couple allegedly texted one another messages implying theft.
"I got 8 $350 cashmere sweaters plus skirt I got rent," Gray texted Rodriguez in February 2013, according to court documents.
On March 13, 2013, prosecutors said Gray again texted Rodriguez: "Outta Vacaville [a city in California]. So easy. BCBG re arranged the store. So I got 100 dlr purses."
"Awesome. I love when a plan comes together," Rodriguez texts back, according to the documents.
Less than two weeks later, on March 24, 2013, a witness reported seeing Gray leaving the Coach Outlet in Folsom, Calif., with stolen wallets. The case summary states Rodriguez told police she was in the store with Gray but claimed to know nothing about the wallets.
Prosecutors say surveillance video proves that isn't so, CBS Sacramento reports. "Rodriguez is... observed picking up, and shaking a wallet at Nicholas Gray," the documents state. "As Rodriguez turned away, Gray took the wallets off of the stand and placed them in.... a 'Faraday bag' designed to defeat store security sensors.... It appears Rodriguez is selecting wallets and helping conceal the actions of Gray..."
According to the station, investigators say there is also an audio recording in which "Gray boasts he has stolen up to $200,000 worth of clothing within the last two months of the recording. He states that while going to San Francisco to get his methadone he steals from places like BCBG."
Gray was charged with theft in May 2013. He appeared in a Sacramento County courtroom Monday to face separate arson and drug charges, according to the station.
The station reports Rodriguez turned herself in on Thursday. Her attorney told CBS Sacramento that he believes his client is innocent and he is going to work hard to restore her good name and reputation.
Somewhat ironically, Rodriguez did a story for FOX 40 on the secrets of shoplifting in December 2012. In the piece, she speaks with an anonymous shoplifter who showed off the Coach handbags and other merchandise he allegedly stole. CBS Sacramento reports that the story and accompanying video have since been pulled from the FOX station's website.