Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Eaton Fire Burglary Case Reaches Its 19th Month in Pasadena Court

Rudy Salazar, accused with a co-defendant of entering two evacuated Altadena homes as the January 2025 wildfire burned, is scheduled before a judge in Department B on Tuesday morning

Rudy Salazar is scheduled to appear in a Pasadena courtroom Tuesday morning at 21 years old, facing allegations in two felony counts from an afternoon in Altadena when he was 19, and the Eaton Fire was burning.

Salazar and co-defendant Lucia Jilrara Perez, 37, each are charged with two counts of first-degree residential burglary.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office alleges the two entered a pair of Altadena homes at approximately 2:30 p.m. on January 8, 2025, while mandatory evacuation orders were in effect, and took property.

Both pleaded not guilty at their arraignment two days later.

The pair were apprehended while allegedly attempting to enter a third residence, the district attorney’s office said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case.

First-degree residential burglary is a felony in California. Each count carries two, four or six years in state prison.

Judge Rita L. Badhan is expeced to preside.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges on January 13, 2025, in a news release covering charges against 10 people in four crimes committed during the wildfires. Nine of the 10 faced felony residential burglary charges tied to Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Hochman said in the release that the crimes represented “a direct attack on our community during a time of unprecedented loss.” By January 24, 2025, the office had brought the total charged in fire-related cases to 25, and Hochman said in a subsequent news release that justice would be “swift and significant.”

Residential burglaries reported in the Altadena area from January 1 to April 15, 2025, were up about 450% over the same period in 2024, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department data.

“Generally, Altadena has a very low crime rate,” Lt. Ethan Marquez of the Altadena Sheriff’s Station told CBS News Los Angeles in April 2025.

The charges are allegations. Both defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.