Teen Gets 10-Year Sentence for RB Circle K Robbery

A 19-year-old man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on Friday for his role in three robberies within 24 hours last December, including a holdup at a Rancho Bernardo mini-mart.

Jeremiah Caleb Jimerson, one of four charged in connection with the robbery series, pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery a few days before his trial was to begin. He also admitted that he was armed in two of the robberies, Deputy District Attorney Melissa Vasel said.

A July 8 sentencing awaits the other three involved: Marquise Bowser Ford, 21; Marquis Dontriel Brooks, 20; and Tommy Jacquett, 32. Ford and Brooks pleaded guilty, while Jacquett was convicted at trial.

Judge Jeffrey Fraser said the facts of the case were "horrific," indicating at least one of the victims had a gun held to their head.

"It's going to change their lives forever," Fraser said. "He [Jimerson] scared the victims to death."

The four were arrested in Mira Mesa the morning of Dec. 28, less than an hour after robbing the Circle K mini-mart at the intersection of West Bernardo Drive and Rancho Bernardo Road. They had just robbed a 7-Eleven, with one hitting a clerk in the head with a pistol, Vasel said. A patrol officer found them in parked car at the Mira Mesa open-space preserve next to Miramar College.

The first robbery occurred at 11:15 a.m. on Dec. 27 at a Postal Annex outlet in the 6000 block of Business Center Court. Police testified that the suspects wore bandanas over their faces and entered the businesses three at a time with a pistol, stealing cash, cigarettes and personal property from employees.

During a January hearing, authorities testified that Jimerson was the gunman in two of the robberies and Ford in the other. Brooks was the driver in two of the holdups, Vasel said.

Jacquett was on parole for a 2008 robbery in Riverside county when the robbery series happened, Vasel said.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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