The second figure in 11 actual and attempted robberies in the UCSD area, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach and elsewhere pleaded guilty April 20 to committing two hold-ups.
Joseph Andres Garcia, 20, has agreed to accept a seven-year term in state prison, said Deputy District Attorney Michael MacNeil. The sentencing for the getaway driver, Benjamin Hernandez, 24, is set for April 30.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Timothy Walsh set sentencing for Garcia for May 18. Both men remain in jail on $500,000 bail each.
Hernandez also pleaded guilty to committing two hold-ups in March. He faces up to six years in prison, but as the getaway driver, he could get a lesser term.
The remaining nine robbery charges against both men were dismissed.
Hernandez was arrested Feb. 3, 2014 after a witness wrote down the license plate number of the BMW used as the getaway car in the Feb. 2 spree. It was traced to Hernandez’s home in National City. Garcia was arrested two days later. The victims, 10 men and one woman, testified last April in the preliminary hearing. Most victims said they were robbed at gunpoint; some said guns were held to their heads.
The first robbery happened about 6:50 p.m. in Ocean Beach, and other hold-ups occurred in Hillcrest, Golden Hill, Mission Beach and the Midtown area. Two students were held up at UCSD in La Jolla. – Neal Putnam