Masked Man Accused of San Mateo, Redwood City Robberies Takes Plea Deal

By Bay City News Service:

A man accused of masked and armed holdups at two stores in San Mateo and Redwood City last year pleaded no contest Friday to robbery charges, San Mateo County prosecutors said.

Parker Zamora Ames, 21, of San Mateo, entered the plea in exchange for a maximum sentence of three years in state prison, according to the district attorney’s office.

Ames was charged with the robbery on Sept. 27 at a 7-Eleven store on North San Mateo Drive in San Mateo and another robbery on Oct. 1 at a Happy Donuts shop on El Camino Real in Redwood City.

In both cases, Ames wore a mask -- a Halloween devil mask in the first heist and a skeleton mask in the second -- and used a knife to threaten the store clerk and take cash, prosecutors said.

After the donut shop robbery, a witness saw Ames and followed him and helped police identify him as the suspect.

Ames will return to court for sentencing on Oct. 9.