A former Sacramento television news anchor and reporter accused of grand theft and burglary made her first court appearance on Friday.
Sabrina Aiko Rodriguez did not enter a plea when she appeared for arraignment on three felony criminal charges in Judge Helena Gweon’s courtroom early Friday morning. Supporters flanked the courtroom as she stood next to her attorney to hear a list of charges against her.
“It’s a process, and I know it’s going to take a while,” Rodriguez told a journalist for The Bee after her arraignment. “I would much, much rather be where you are and holding the microphone and asking questions than being the one who’s answering.”
Rodriguez, a former television journalist for Tribune Company’s KTXL FOX40, was arrested last month on suspicion of grand theft, burglary and conspiracy related to a shoplifting incident more than a year ago. Her then-boyfriend Nicholas Gray was arrested in connection with the same incident as well as various drug and arson charges stemming from a fire at the couple’s Sacramento home three months ago.
Rodriguez resigned from her job at KTXL last month after a competitor broke the news of her arrest. The station later admitted it knew Rodriguez had been charged with a crime. A December 2013 story in which Rodriguez interviews an anonymous shoplifter was deleted from KTXL’s website a short time later; it has since been archived in full on The Desk.
Defense attorney Mark Reichel told the Sacramento Bee that Rodriguez is “100 percent innocent.”
