Man Gets Over 4 Decades Behind Bars Over Home Invasions

(USNewsBreak.com) – Home invasions are a blatant violation of privacy. Victims typically feel unsafe when a stranger invades and burgles their residence. In California, a judge recently made sure that a man who carried out a crime spree in the state won’t return to the streets again anytime soon.

On May 31, Superior Court Judge Henry Hall sentenced Vacho Shahen to more than 46 years of incarceration. A jury found Shahen guilty of a number of crimes, including five counts of false imprisonment, four counts of first-degree burglary, and three counts each of assault with a firearm and home invasion robbery.

Those charges stemmed from Shahen’s home invasion and robbery spree in 2016 in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Downey. During a two-week span, he broke into several homes, handcuffed the victims, and stole their personal belongings.

Man Sentenced to Nearly 47 Years in Prison for Home Invasion Robberies#LosAngeles https://t.co/vNuiq5C5af

— California Insider News (@CAInsiderNews) June 25, 2024

In one instance, he shot one of the homeowners in the torso when they resisted. Police responded to the scene of the crime when someone called in to report “shots fired.” The homeowner received treatment at UCLA Hospital and survived the ordeal. Prosecutors charged Shahen with attempted murder in that case, but the jury acquitted him of that crime.

It took authorities a few years to piece together the case and arrest Shahen, who they found in Philadelphia, where authorities were holding him on unrelated charges. Santa Monica police had found DNA at one of the homes in their jurisdiction and used that to link him to the other robberies. In 2021, California extradited Shahen to the Los Angeles area.

In his ruling, Judge Hall said Shahen’s crimes were “extremely sophisticated and well-planned” and that his goal in sentencing him to nearly 47 years was to “keep him out of society for as long as humanly possible.” While Hall was informing the convict of his right to appeal the decision, Shahen asked if he could speak. The judge denied his request.