Eddie Chow was sentenced Nov. 26 to four years in state prison for stealing a red handbag from Nordstrom at Horton Plaza. The judge noted Chow’s long criminal record including a manslaughter conviction in which Chow stabbed a man to death in 1983.
Although the theft was minor, it is a felony because of Chow’s long criminal record which includes other petty thefts, prostitution, burglary and receiving stolen property convictions.
Chow, 56, took the handbag valued at $239 from Nordstrom Sept. 28, and two employees ran after him. “Back the f—k up or I am going to stab you guys,” Chow is quoted as telling the Nordstrom workers, according to the probation report.
Chow then hurled both the Nordstrom handbag and his own handbag down several floors. A Nordstrom employee wrote the bag was too damaged to sell. Police recovered Chow’s personal handbag and a warrant for his arrest was issued. He was arrested Oct. 14 at the Neil Good Center.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert O’Neill gave Chow credit for 88 days in jail, denied probation and fined him $1,383.
Chow was 25 years old when he and his boyfriend encountered an intoxicated fisherman Jan. 15, 1983 in downtown San Diego. Chow was dressed as a woman and was engaging in prostitution at the time.
Joseph Sardina, who was in his 30s, was stabbed in the back. His aorta was cut and a lung collapsed, according to court records. Both Chow and his boyfriend were arrested for murder.
At trial, Chow testified he stabbed Sardina in self-defense because he was choking him. The prosecutor, Mike Carpenter, asked for a second-degree murder conviction, but also made the unusual request that Chow’s boyfriend be acquitted of all charges, saying he played no role in the slaying.
The San Diego Superior Court jury deliberated several days before convicting Chow of second-degree murder and acquitting his boyfriend. Chow was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison, but his murder conviction was overturned in 1988 by an appeals court that said Chow’s lawyer should have asked for jury instructions for involuntary manslaughter.
Rather than face a second trial, Chow pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 1988 and received seven years in prison. He had already served five years and was released shortly afterwards.
But once Chow was paroled, he continued to commit petty thefts. In 1992, he stole four women’s jackets worth $1,216 from Nordstrom and received 16 months in prison, according to court records. A theft and fight at a 7-Eleven store in 1995 got him six years in prison.
When he was arrested Oct. 14, he was held on $25,000 bail and another judge signed an order that Chow must stay away from Nordstrom.
