Detective: ‘No evidence’ armed burglary suspect seen near Malibu Creek State Park connected to shooting of Irvine father

A Los Angeles County sheriff’s detective said while the recent reports of a burglary suspect possibly armed with a rifle near Malibu Creek State Park were “concerning,” there was no evidence that the man was connected to the deadly shooting of an Irvine father at a nearby campground in June.

Lt. Eddie Hernandez, one of the detectives investigating the killing of 35-year-old Tristan Beaudette as the father of two was sleeping in a tent at the park, said Tuesday there was no reason to believe yet that the burglary suspect was involved in any violent crimes in the area.

On Saturday, a deputy from the sheriff’s Lost Hills/Malibu station said investigators hadn’t “ruled out” the possibility that the burglary suspect could be connected to Beaudette’s death.

Hernandez said there was “no evidence” at this point to connect the crimes.

“It’s concerning,” Hernandez said of the reports of the man being armed. “But I just don’t want to connect those dots right now.”

On Saturday, sheriff’s officials said a state parks employee encountered a man matching a description of the burglary suspect at around 1 p.m. The employee told deputies that the man had asked for a ride.

By the afternoon, about a dozen deputies on foot could be seen picking through areas of the park in search of the man while sheriff’s helicopters buzzed overheard. Deputies also brought in bloodhounds and surveillance equipment to aid in the search.

Hernandez said the man was the primary suspect in a string of burglaries in unincorporated areas of Calabasas near the state park over the last two to three weeks.

Each time, the man stole food from vending machines, Hernandez said, which led detectives to believe he may be a transient living in the park.

On Sept. 30, officials said surveillance camera footage showed a man wearing “tactical gear” and carrying a rifle burglarizing a commercial building north of the park.

The same man was suspected of burglarizing the Calabasas water treatment plant at least once and another commercial building near Mulholland Highway and Las Virgenes Road

In the most recent burglary on Tuesday, the suspect broke into a Calabasas community center at around 3 a.m., breaking into a vending machine and stealing food, sheriff’s officials said in a statement.

The culprit broke a glass door at the center to get inside.

“Detectives believe the same suspect, who is possibly involved in eight other burglaries, used a rock to break the front glass door,” according to a sheriff’s department statement.

Deputies at the sheriff’s Lost Hills/Malibu station have fielded numerous reports of gunfire since news about Beaudette’s killing broke. None were confirmed as gunfire, while others were found to have been cars backfiring or transformers exploding, officials said at a community meeting in August.

The search teams returned Saturday after the park maintenance worked called about the suspicious man he encountered. He told deputies the man asked for a ride out of the canyon “because he said there were so many police in the area.”

Hernandez said on Tuesday that the search turned up no evidence of the burglary suspect.

“He obviously is familiar with that area up there,” Hernandez said. “He seems to be walking through the area fairly easily, even though it’s rugged terrain.”

Beaudette was killed June 22 from a single gunshot wound to the head while sleeping in a tent with his two young daughters at the park’s main campground.

Since then, sheriff’s officials have confirmed they received previous reports of bullets being shot at vehicles in the same area of the park since 2016. None of those shootings were believed to be connected to Beaudette’s killing, detectives said.

City News Service contributed to this story.