Dispensary Robbery Shooting Suspect Sentenced In SMC: DA

SAN MATEO, CA — A 22-year-old man was sentenced to 13 years in state prison after being convicted of shooting at a driver during an attempted robbery in San Mateo, the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office said.

Leimarion Kayshawn Johnson was denied probation and sentenced after a jury found him guilty of shooting at an occupied vehicle, robbery, assault with a firearm and two firearm enhancements, prosecutors said.

The district attorney's office said it sought a 26-year prison sentence.

The judge reduced one firearm enhancement from 20 years to 10 years and dismissed Johnson's prior felony strike conviction. Johnson will be transferred to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, prosecutors said.

The case stems from an Oct. 3, 2022, shooting in the 700 block of Fathom Drive.

The victim worked at a marijuana dispensary in Oakland and realized he was being followed while driving home across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, prosecutors said.

Police said the driver exited the freeway and backed into a parking space. Johnson and an accomplice then got out of a Volkswagen and approached the minivan. When the victim tried to drive away, Johnson fired two shots into the occupied vehicle while the accomplice smashed a passenger-side window and stole a bag before the pair fled, police said.

San Mateo police later served a search warrant at Johnson's Richmond home, where detectives recovered clothing they said he wore during the shooting.

Johnson was arrested in February 2023 after San Mateo detectives took him into custody as he was being released from the Contra Costa County Jail on an unrelated case.

The identity of Johnson's alleged accomplice and the status of that case were not immediately available.