Robber sent to prison
Luna apologizes for his actions at sentencing
The man who robbed the Burlington Coat Factory last year and later fled from police on foot after crashing his car was sentenced Tuesday morning in Yuma County Superior Court to more than three years in prison.
“I just want to apologize for everything I have done and take responsibility for my actions,” Kiko Armando Luna said, when asked by Superior Court Judge Stephan Rouff if he had anything he wanted to say prior to his sentencing.
With his attorney Paul Abbate standing by his side, Luna was sentenced to one and a half years in prison for unlawful flight of pursuing law enforcement vehicle, and another two years for violating the terms of his probation, which he was placed on last year.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Rouff, who presided over the case, ordered that the two sentences be served consecutively and gave Luna credit for 524 days he has already served in the Yuma County jail while his case was adjudicated.
Judge Rouff also sentenced Luna to 36 months of intensive probation for armed robbery. The probation is set to begin when Luna is released from prison. He pleaded guilty to the offenses in plea bargains last month, which counted as an automatic violation of the probation he was serving.
According to Yuma police, at approximately 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, officers responded to the Burlington Coat Factory, 3020 S. 4th Ave., for a report of an armed robbery.
However, the suspect, later identified by police as Luna, had already fled the scene in a white Pontiac Bonneville, and was last seen heading toward 4th Avenue.
Court records indicate that as the suspect was leaving the store, someone from Burlington tried to stop him, but the suspect reached behind his back and stated he had a gun.
Yuma police were later able to determine the suspect’s vehicle was registered to an address in Winterhaven, and the Quechan Police Department was notified.
A short time later, a Yuma police officer spotted the vehicle crossing the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge into California, and YPD dispatch advised Quechan PD and the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office that the vehicle was in the Winterhaven area.
Yuma police said the vehicle was located by law enforcement and then crossed back over the Ocean-toOcean Bridge into Yuma.
The suspect later fled on foot after crashing the Pontiac into another vehicle in the 100 block of South Main Street.
The suspect was located a short time later and taken into custody. There were no injuries in the wreck.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.