Purse stealer sentenced and fined

An 18-year-old Chula Vista man was sentenced Monday to 29 days he has already spent in jail for stealing a purse from a woman outside a store.

Genaro Vasquez was fined $1,153 by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Francis Devaney, who placed him on three years probation.

The incident occurred at 2 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2016 outside a store in the 1000 block of Third Avenue in Chula Vista.

Vasquez and a 17-year-old boy both demanded money from two women. One of the robbers had a gun.

One suspect grabbed a purse and both suspects ran to an awaiting car, according to Chula Vista Police. The victims wrote down the license plate number which was given to police.

Police tracked down the Ford Mustang to an address on Hilltop Drive in Chula Vista and arrested both Vasquez and the minor. The car was impounded. The 17-year-old boy’s case was prosecuted in Juvenile Court and is not public record.
The women recovered the purse and its contents and no restitution order was made Monday. The Ford Mustang was returned to Vasquez’s family by police.

Vasquez pleaded guilty to robbery and grand theft on March 9 and was free on $100,000 bond. Court records show that if Vasquez is successful on probation for two years, the court will consider allowing Vasquez to withdraw his guilty plea to robbery and the charge would be dismissed.

Records say Vasquez would have to be law abiding with no new cases or violations for the robbery charge to be dismissed. The grand theft charge, however, will stand.