Armed purse snatcher found guilty
The man who confronted a Lucky supermarket employee at gunpoint and demanded her purse in a deserted parking lot at 4 a.m. has been found guilty of robbery. Mark Antonio Padilla, 21, of Turlock, faces a maximum of five years in state prison for the July, 2013 incident.
The victim was walking to work through the Maxwell Village parking lot when a masked man, later identified as Padilla, got out of his pickup truck, pointed a gun at her and demanded her purse.
The victim threw her lunch bag at him and ran inside the store. As the Padilla fled in his truck, employees inside the store called 911. The truck was pulled over a short time later in American Canyon by Napa County Sheriff Deputies. Replica guns that matched the description of the gun used in the robbery were found in the truck, along with a black ski mask and the victim’s purse.
Subsequent to the Sonoma robbery in Sonoma, Padilla was charged with attempted robbery in San Joaquin County. On January 8, 2014 he attempted to enter a Manteca Starbucks, at 3:45 a.m., through the drive-through window.
Padilla banged on the window with a handgun, but a worker refused and called 911. Padilla was pulled over by law enforcement and a search of the vehicle revealed two loaded handguns, a black hooded sweat shirt, and a black ski mask. He was convicted of attempted robbery on May 6, 2014 and returned to Sonoma County for trial in the Somoma robbery/
“The jury weighed the evidence and reached a just verdict,” said DA Jill Ravitch after the five-day trial. “We will seek a sentence that ensures this violent offender is off the street for some time to come.”
