The getaway driver in 11 robberies and attempted holdups in Hillcrest, Ocean Beach, Golden Hill and elsewhere was sentenced July 1 to one year in jail.
Benjamin Hernandez, 24, of National City, was released because his jail credits totaled 1,028 days as he received credit for good behavior while in jail since his arrest nearly two years ago. He was released from jail on terms of three years probation.
By contrast, the actual gunman, Joseph Andres Garcia, 20, of San Diego, received seven years in prison May 18. Both men may be liable for paying the victims back and restitution hearings will be scheduled later, although much of the property was recovered by police.
Both men pleaded guilty to committing two robberies and the other charges were dismissed in San Diego Superior Court. Hernandez could have a received a 6-year prison term.
The victims included 10 men and one woman who were accosted Feb. 2, 2014 at night and most were pedestrians. One victim remembered Hernandez’s car license plate which led to his arrest. Nearly everyone who carried a cell phone lost it.
Before his arrest, Garcia posted this question on his Facebook page, “Who knows how to unlock an iPhone 4,” which was the type stolen from a UCSD student. That tip led to his arrest three days later.
The robberies started in Ocean Beach at 6:50 p.m. when three guys on Cape May near Cable Street were approached by the robbers and a juvenile. One bandit held a tire iron. Besides their cell phones, the men lost their cigarettes and a lighter.
A man lost his cell phone at 7:10 p.m., and another man lost his wallet containing $2, credit cards and ID cards at 7:40 p.m. on First Avenue in Hillcrest, according to the probation report.
Another man was robbed at 9:15 p.m. of $250 in his wallet. Another man who was standing outside his apartment at 10:42 p.m. had a gun put to his head and given three seconds to give up his phone. One bandit hit him in the back with a tire iron.
The last individuals robbed were a group of UCSD students sitting on a bench outside the school gym. One bandit held a tire iron, and the students were robbed of their cell phones, student IDs, wallets and credit cards.
