Daly City Man Who Robbed Bank Days After Getting Out of Jail Sentenced

By Bay City News Service:

A Daly City man was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday for robbing a Redwood City bank in March— two days after he was released from jail for setting a car on fire outside the Daly City DMV, San Mateo County prosecutors said.

Hugo Carranza, 66, pleaded no contest in August to robbery charges on the first day of jury selection in his trial, prosecutors said.

He went into the Bank of America at 700 Jefferson Ave. at about 2:10 p.m. on March 14 and told the teller “Give me $5,000 in a box!” according to prosecutors.

Confused, the teller asked if he was making a withdrawal from the bank but he simulated a gun in his pocket and made it clear that it was a robbery.

While gathering the money, the teller alerted another bank employee, who called police. Officers surrounded the bank and once the teller handed Carranza the money he went outside and was quickly arrested.

The robbery happened two days after he was sentenced to three years in prison for setting a car on fire outside the Daly City DMV but was released because of credit for time served.

He had had his car towed in 2011 because of expired registration and paid some, but not all, of the fines and could not get his car back.

Angry, he returned to the DMV office at 1500 Sullivan Ave. on April 23, 2012, poured fuel on a 2008 Cadillac he thought belonged to a DMV employee and lit it on fire, prosecutors said.

The flames spread to a Honda before a DMV employee put out the fire.

Carranza turned himself in as soon as police arrived.

A defense attorney in that case expressed doubt about his competency to stand trial, but a judge ruled him competent and he pleaded no contest to the arson charge.

For the bank robbery charges, Carranza received credit for 264 days of time served, but not enough to get him immediately released from the three-year sentence Judge Elizabeth Hill handed down Wednesday.

(Image via Shutterstock)