A Solano County Superior Court jury on Friday found a woman, Karakia Williams, guilty of a 2023 second-degree burglary, grand theft, organized retail theft, and receiving stolen goods from a Vacaville store.
After a four-day trial jurors rendered its verdict against Williams, and Judge Wendy Getty ordered her to return at 8:30 a.m. March 21 in the Justice Center in Fairfield for a pre-sentencing report and sentencing.
At sentencing Williams – also known as Karakia Letisha Williams – may receive as much as five years in county jail or several years in state prison.
According to a news release from the office of Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams, the jury also found it true that the crime involved “planning, sophistication, or professionalism and involved an actual taking of great monetary value.”
Court records showed that on Dec. 15, the Sunglass Hut in the Nut Tree Plaza suffered a $39,957 loss in less than a minute.
Williams and two other people entered the store, pulled out trash bags from their
pockets, then filled the bags with various high-end sunglasses before fleeing the store.An employee who witnessed the crime reported that the group fled in a black Kia Soul.
Within 30 minutes, Vacaville Police Officer Aaron Potter located the suspect vehicle and detained its four occupants.
One witness from the store positively identified three of the four vehicle occupants as the three people who had just burglarized the store. Two garbage bags full of stolen sunglasses were found inside the vehicle.
The DA’s Office, which did not release Williams’ age or city of residence, filed its complaint on Dec. 19.
Deputy District Attorney Christine De Leo led the prosecution. The Alternate Public Defender’s Office represented Williams.