Man Sentenced to 1 Year After Guilty Plea to 2024 Bay View Residential Burglary

NORFOLK, Va. — Oscar Ogdulio Rodriguez-Cardenas, 28, was sentenced to serve one year in jail after he pleaded guilty to burglarizing a Bay View home by removing a window air-conditioning unit last summer.

On Aug. 21, 2024, Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas went to a house in the 9000 block of Chesapeake Boulevard and rang the doorbell to see if anyone was home. When no one answered the door, he pulled his shirt up to cover his face and removed an A/C unit from one of the side windows to climb through and enter the house. While inside, Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas stole a watch. The homeowner received alerts from his doorbell camera system about Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas’ activity in front of the house and called Norfolk Police.

Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas fled by the time officers arrived, leaving the A/C unit outside and the window open. When the victim arrived at the house, he showed officers the doorbell footage of Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas, and the officers distributed Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas’ description to nearby patrol units. Shortly afterward, an officer spotted Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas, Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas threw the watch upon seeing the police, and he tried to run away before he was arrested. The watch was later returned to the victim, who confirmed it was theirs. After being informed of his rights, Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas confessed to the burglary.

On May 29, Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas entered an agreement to plead guilty to felony burglary and serve one year in jail, with another four years in prison suspended on the conditions that be of uniform good behavior while in custody and for five years following his release, that he complete up to two years of supervised probation following his release, and that he have no contact with the victim. In exchange for Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas’ guilty plea, the Commonwealth agreed to the dismissal of his additional misdemeanor larceny charge. Judge Jennifer L. Fuschetti accepted Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas’ plea agreement and sentenced him per the agreement. Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas’ Virginia sentencing guidelines called for probation and no active incarceration, and the sentence in his plea agreement was above that recommendation.

“Breaking into someone’s house is one of the most serious things one can do, short of hurting them physically. It is an intrusion into the sanctity and privacy of a person’s home. For that reason, the state sentencing guidelines were insufficient in this case, and we sought and secured a sentence of confinement against Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “People deserve to feel safe and secure in their homes, and we will continue to prosecute those people who burgle and steal from the homes of our neighbors.”

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Tara Sue Terwilliger prosecuted Mr. Rodriguez-Cardenas’ case, and Norfolk Police Detective Kevin M. Rose led the investigation.

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