A man on probation, along with his girlfriend, are now facing charges for allegedly stealing memorabilia and other valuables from the home of a deceased member of the Reuben H. Fleet family, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Wednesday.
According to officials from the San Marcos sheriff’s station, Edward Peek, 29, and Nicole Denny were arrested Tuesday morning in Escondido in connection with the burglary.
Deputies and Peek’s probation officer discovered items stolen in the burglary in Peek’s storage unit and in Denny’s vehicle.
The lifted loot included memorabilia from Reuben H. Fleet’s military career, as well as antique jewelry, antique furniture, oil paintings and other valuable property belonging to the Fleet family estate.
The suspects were arrested and booked into jail on charges of grand theft. Peek is scheduled to appear in court Friday.
Deputies said the burglary remains under investigation. No further details were released about the home that was burglarized.
Reuben H. Fleet – whose name lives on at the famous Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park – was an aviation pioneer and army officer who founded may corporations, including the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.
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He was born in 1887 in Washington but business opportunities later brought him to San Diego. He died in San Diego in 1975, at the age of 88.
