Law enforcement agencies report that a person previously based in Sonoma, thought to be involved in a series of burglaries in 2024, seems to have returned to Sonoma having potentially broken further laws, despite outstanding warrants for his arrest. This individual was identified and detained on the 5th of February after reportedly perpetuating a trend of thievery over several months. This is not an isolated incident, as he was previously apprehended in 2024 under similar circumstances. The accused, 44-year-old Michael Chilton, found himself in police custody for a similar predicament on the 20th of June, 2024.
Post his release from the earlier arrest, numerous warrants were put out for Mr. Chilton. It appears that he accumulated a number of charges across a variety of jurisdictions, including court no-shows, evading arrest, and even allegedly threatening the Sheriff’s Department of Amador County with an ax, where he was allegedly concealing himself. The arresting officers, who were part of a collaborative effort between the Sonoma Police and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, provided their account of the events culminating on February 5. They maintained that Chilton was detained in connection with a series of reported thefts and break-ins.
Following his arrest, Chilton was housed at Sonoma County Jail, where he is currently being held. In the early hours of February 5, around 8:30 a.m., the Sonoma Police received a tip-off from a proprietor of a commercial property located on Fifth Street West in Sonoma. The property owner reported that they had captured footage on their surveillance cameras of an individual, who looked like Chilton, attempting to steal items from the back of their property.
A joint response from the police and the sheriff’s deputies led to the discovery of Chilton, previously residing in Sonoma, trespassing and seemingly carrying out further theft. Chilton was a familiar figure to the local police department, given his earlier arrests for similar acts of theft in the summer the year before, focusing on Sonoma Plaza and the downtown locality.
Upon finalizing the investigation, law enforcement counted nine different episodes of theft, burglary, and possessing stolen belongings. Over the course of the investigation, spanning several months since its initiation in February 2024, police were able to recover a significant restitute of belongings thought to be stolen by the accused.
The police described the modus operandi, detailing that items were pilfered from a variety of places, including residential properties, construction zones, eating establishments, wine manufacturing facilities, and even Little League playing fields. A large number of the thefts involved outdoor fixtures such as tables and benches taken from Sonoma-based businesses.
The timeline of the heist spree dates back to the 20th of June, 2024, when Chilton was arrested subsequent to a search warrant at his residence, along with two of his storage units. However, after his booking and subsequent release, he moved to Amador County and failed to appear in court to respond to the defamation case.
Chilton’s avoidance of the law didn’t stop at the court no-show; he had an active warrant out for his arrest in Sonoma. Furthermore, on July 25, 2024, sheriffs from Amador County noted that they came across Chilton, stranded roadside due to a vehicle breakdown. After his encounter with the law enforcement, he was sent back to the Sonoma County Jail on the assumption that he would be kept in custody due to the standing warrant.
In a surprising turn of events, Chilton was let free two days post his arrest, after which he apparently resumed his unlawful activities. It was on the morning of February 5 that law enforcement was finally able to track down and detain Chilton at the Fifth Street West property, with regards to the outstanding warrant he had against him.
Law enforcement noted that the vehicle Chilton had been using, parked on a nearby road, was found to contain an outdoor table and chairs that were damp, which were later identified as stolen from the historic Maysonnave House. A photo of the stolen furniture was circulated on social media networks Facebook and NextDoor, and was shared by the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce in an effort to identify the rightful owner.
As a result of the Sonoma League for Historic Preservation identifying the Maysonnave House table, additional charges of felony theft were leveled against Chilton. The recovered furniture was immediately restored to its original location at the historical site, in their original state prior to the theft.
On February 7, detectives from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Property Crimes Investigations Unit followed leads to San Francisco with search warrants for a few other locations known to have been frequented by the suspect. The authorities reported finding stolen property linked to three additional theft cases from Sonoma, all of which were relocated back to Sonoma by the detectives, aimed for return to their rightful owners.
As a result of this discovery, Chilton’s booking was updated to include the fresh set of charges. At present, Chilton continues to be held in custody, facing two felony warrants and a plethora of fresh charges, including felony theft with two previous convictions of petty theft, felony possession of stolen property, felony grand theft, felony burglary, misdemeanor petty theft, felony vandalism, and misdemeanor drug related offenses.
On another note, Sonoma Police are requesting public assistance in recovering three large, round tables with a distinct blue, rubberized coating, reported to be taken from Dutch Brothers Coffee on Broadway. The authorities have urged anyone with information to reach out to their local police department to aid in locating and restoring the stolen items.
This case highlights the persistent issue of theft in Sonoma, raising concerns about the efficacy of its crime prevention measures. While the law-abiding citizens take a sigh of relief as a repeat offender is returned to custody, the question remains – how many more might be out there, slipping unnoticeably through the cracks of the jurisdiction?