'Most Polite Bank Robber' Pleads No Contest To Peninsula Charges

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA – A three-strike felon accused of robbing three banks in Daly City and San Bruno in 2015 and 2016 has pleaded no contest to all the charges against him in hopes of a lenient sentence, San Mateo County prosecutors said today.

Darryl Lamont Horace, 39, allegedly robbed Wells Fargo branches on Dec. 7, 2015 and on March 5, 2016 as well as a Bank of the West on Sept. 29, 2016. In each incident, prosecutors say he handed the teller a note demanding cash in $50 and $100 denominations.

In the first two incidents he counted the money and left peacefully, but during the third robbery another teller nearby observed the robbery in progress, picked up the phone and started shouting.

Horace fled the scene, but officers arrived quickly. He was arrested and charged with two counts of felony robbery and one more for felony attempted robbery.

According to defense attorney Steven Chase, he also has bank robbery cases pending in other counties.

"He has a past with bank robberies," Chase said.

"His mother was in and out of prisons, in and out of severe drug usage, and she would take him to rob banks," Chase said.

He points out that violence was never used in any of the robberies for which client has been charged.

"The judge commented that this was the most polite bank robber she had ever heard of," Chase said. "He would just go into a bank and ask for money. There was no threat."

"One time he even said please," Chase said. "It's bizarre for a robbery case, but he's not a violent person."

Horace excelled in a treatment program during his last prison stint and eventually got involved in the inmate firefighting program.

He was working to become a professional firefighter after being released, but Chase said his client's parole officer intervened and got him fired. After that, his client went back to robbing banks.

Given his criminal history, Horace could face more than 90 years in prison. That's why Chase advised him to plead no contest to all the charges against him and filed a Romero motion, which asks the judge to drop
one of his client's previous strike convictions from consideration in sentencing so Horace doesn't have to face the maximum prison term on each count.

"The prosecutor wouldn't offer a plea bargain," Chase said. "They see him as a poster boy for the three-strike thing."

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe confirmed Chase's statements, saying Horace was "throwing himself at the mercy of the court," in hopes of a reduced sentence.

"It's his record, of course. He is what the three strikes law was written for," Wagstaffe said. "He just keeps committing these things."

Horace returns to court for sentencing on March 16. Meanwhile, he remains in custody on $650,000 bail.

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