Paso Robles man convicted of robbery, carjacking after multi-day crime spree, DA says
A Paso Robles man who went on a multi-day crime spree was convicted of robbery, carjacking and other felony charges on Thursday, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office said.
A San Luis Obispo County jury found Richard Quntan Garcia guilty of felony attempted robbery, robbery, carjacking and reckless evasion of a peace officer after a multi-day trial, the agency said in a news release.
The 31-year-old man was also convicted of misdemeanor counts of resisting, delaying or obstructing a peace officer and possession of methamphetamine.
San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Timothy Covello found that Garcia was previously convicted for assault with a firearm for the benefit of a criminal street gang and assault with a firearm — both considered “strikes” under California’s Three Strikes Law — in a separate hearing.
“There is no place for violent crime in our community,” Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth said in the release. “While thankful that no one suffered physical injury during this crime spree, we acknowledge the significant trauma experienced by the robbery and carjacking victims.”
Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on June 20. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 82 years to life plus 51 years.
Paso Robles man on crime spree evaded police for days, DA says
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Garcia’s crime spree started the day before Thanksgiving — Nov. 24, 2021 — when he entered a Carl’s Jr. restaurant on the 2700 block of Black Oak Drive in Paso Robles shortly after 10 p.m. and “demanded money from a 15 year-old employee while pointing a handgun about six inches from the employee’s face.
A different employee quickly called law enforcement and Garcia fled without getting any money, the agency said in the release.
Three hours later, Garcia entered a Chevron gas station on the 1800 block of Ramada Drive in Paso Robles with a handgun, the District Attorney’s Office said.
The Paso Robles man then demanded money from the employee and fired a shot over the employee’s shoulder into the ceiling, the agency said.
That employee gave Garcia money from the cash register, the release said, before Garcia fled the scene in a dark BMW sedan.
Paso Robles police found a dark gray BMW about an hour later, the release said.
When an officer tried to stop the BMW, the driver reportedly sped away.
According to the release, a high-speed pursuit ensued along rural Nacimiento Lake Drive — ending 15 miles later near Lake Nacimiento Resort, where Garcia fled on foot.
He was not caught at that time, the release said.
Three days later, on Nov. 28, Garcia carjacked a woman outside an apartment complex on the 1200 block of Creston in Paso Robles, the District Attorney’s Office said.
The woman was seated in the driver’s seat of her car when Garcia opened the vehicle’s door and “ordered her out,” the release said.
The carjacking victim “saw an item in Garcia’s hand she believed may have been a gun or a knife,” the District Attorney’s Office said, and ran from her vehicle.
“Garcia got in and drove off,” the release said, noting that the car was found abandoned about three and a half hours later.
According to the release, Paso Robles Police Department officers spotted Garcia in the area of the carjacking the following day.
“Garcia ran but was arrested after a half-mile foot pursuit,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “Methamphetamine was located in his pocket.”
The Paso Robles Police Department, with the assistance of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Gang Taskforce, California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services, District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation, and District Attorney’s Central Coast Cyber-Forensic Laboratory investigated the case. San Luis Obispo Deputy District Attorney Scott Hunter, who is assigned to the District Attorney’s Felony Trial Team, prosecuted it.
