LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A man accused of stealing a plane out of North Las Vegas and landing in California received a sentence of felony probation, 137 days in jail and had a federal indictment dismissed.
FOX5 learned of the sentence after two anonymous women from Idaho raised concerns, and had hoped that the suspect, 40-year-old Damian Zukaitis, would be behind bars for longer. FOX5 was the first station to tell you about the bizarre heist over New Year’s Eve weekend.
On December 30, 2023, police said a 2020 Kitfox fixed-wing single-engine type aircraft was burglarized by Zukaitis. The suspect took off with the plane and landed in a field near the Barstow-Daggett Airport.
According to the plane’s owner, the plane was found with part of a marijuana joint on the floor and numerous beer cans and bottles in the cockpit.
According to San Bernardino court records, a charge of grand theft was dismissed. Zukaitis pled “no contest” to taking an aircraft and resisting arrest, which resulted in a sentence of felony probation until 2026. He served 137 days in jail and was transported back to Ada County, Idaho.
“Our Office determined the plea agreement was appropriate,” a spokesperson with the San Bernardino District Attorney tells FOX5 via email.
Zukaitis faced a federal charge of transport of a stolen aircraft, but the charge was later dismissed by the U.S. District Court out of Nevada. A spokesperson had no comment on the case.
In December, Zukaitis, from Idaho, was wanted for felony probation violation of Ada County and ended up in Las Vegas. Two women who spoke to FOX5 anonymously said he was on the run, and was possibly trying to fly to Mexico with the plane.
In 2020, Zukaitis pled guilty to two counts of felony stalking of two different female victims, a count of misdemeanor battery, and two attempted violations of a no contact order.
The women tell FOX5, the suspect had a history of violence, mental health issues, delusions and unstable behavior. They had hoped he would be behind bars for a longer period of time for plane theft.
“How could he possibly get away with stealing a plane and taking it into protected airspace, traveling over state lines? Especially with all the problems that have happened to this country over the last couple of decades? I couldn’t imagine him being able to walk away especially with just probation. It was like a slap on the hand,” one woman said. “He’s an absolute monster,” she said.
Former prosecutor and public defender Jeff Lustick explains why mental health could be a factor in sentencing.
“It’s likely that the federal government decided to dismiss the federal charge as part of a global plea,” Lustick said. “Does the defendant suffer from a mental illness? Is the defendant amenable to treatment? Sometimes these defendants will be given a plea agreement that will result in a lower charge if they’re willing to go to treatment,” he said.
“That is fairly common in cases like this. In this particular case, nobody was killed, the aircraft was recovered,” he said, voicing personal concerns as a pilot that the federal charge involving plane theft was dropped.
Zukaitis is being held in the Ada County Jail with a $10,500 bail. He has a court hearing for felony probation violation on May 9.
Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.