Man accused in Valencia Summit prowler case appears in court

A screenshot from a Valencia Summt's homeowner's surveillance camera of a prowler snooping around homes in the neighborhood. The image was captured on the victim’s ring door video system. Courtesy video
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The man accused of being the Valencia Summit prowler appeared briefly in court Friday as his case heads towards trial.

Christopher Thomas Marchetti, 28, appeared Friday morning in courtroom 2 of the Santa Clarita Courthouse to face misdemeanor charges of petty theft and trespassing in relation to incidents that allegedly occurred in the residential neighborhood of Valencia Summit.

Wearing the dark blue coveralls, property of the Los Angeles County Jail and with his hands handcuffed behind his back, Marchetti sat quietly at the side of the courtroom as the judge sorted out four charges files against him – the two misdemeanors and two probation violations.

In the end, the judge decided to address all four cases on the same day and ordered Marchetti to appear back in court on Apr. 13 for a pretrial hearing.

Marchetti –  arrested seven times in the last two years – was compelled Friday to make at least one other court appearance next week.

Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station last month arrested Marchetti on suspicion of petty theft and trespassing.

“On March 13, a Valencia resident on the 24000 block of Tossano Drive reported the theft of a lockbox containing a key,” Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station told The Signal last month.

“The male suspect was captured by the homeowner’s surveillance camera, and his image was widely circulated throughout social media community groups,” she said.

“Patrol deputies and detectives worked together, and on Saturday (March 18), five days after the reported crime, arrested suspect Christopher Marchetti,” Miller said.

Deputies made the arrest after a video image of the suspect was widely circulated in the press and on social media.

Marchetti is suspected of being the prowler who, in the dead of night, stole a lock box containing a key after trying to force his way into an occupied home in Valencia Summit.

He was seen trying to break into at least two homes in the Valencia Summit neighborhood, according to one Valencia Summit homeowner who went public with the suspect’s image in an effort to identify him.

Valencia Summit is a neighborhood north of McBean Parkway, east of Rockwell Canyon Road across from College of the Canyons and south of Valencia Boulevard.

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