A Beaverton, Ore., man was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison for stealing a security guard’s vehicle while fleeing the scene of an alleged shoplifting.
Brandon David Rivera Castro, 20, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to first-degree attempted robbery in connection with the June 2018 incident at a Vancouver Walmart. The four-year sentence will run concurrent with a nearly six-year prison sentence in Oregon for second-degree robbery. Before the plea, Rivera Castro faced charges of first-degree robbery and vehicle theft.
On June 4, 2018, Vancouver police were dispatched to Walmart at 221 N.E. 104th Ave., for a report of a woman who tried to steal alcohol. Marisela Calderon grabbed several bottles and ran to a vehicle with Oregon license plates in the parking lot. The driver, identified as Rivera Castro, backed into a Securitas vehicle, pushing it into another car, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The security guard “attempted to contact the male driver who then assaulted him, and (he) fell to the ground. The suspect then stole the Securitas security vehicle and drove away from the scene,” the affidavit reads.
A detective with the Beaverton Police Department later contacted Vancouver police with information about the driver’s identity. Calderon was interviewed while imprisoned in Oregon and admitted their involvement, according to the affidavit. In a subsequent interview, Castro admitted to driving the getaway vehicle.
Castro apologized to the victim during the hearing.
“I don’t know what was in my head,” Castro said. “I was clouded by ignorance.”
Castro added that, when he is released from prison, he would like to improve his life and earn a college degree.
“Make it happen,” Judge Jennifer Snider said before handing down the sentence.
Source: https://www.columbian.com
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