Man pointed assault rifle at boss, DA says

A Peninsula man held his employer at gunpoint with an assault rifle and Glock pistol while trying to rob him and a second victim, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

South San Francisco resident Donnie Ray Rodriguez pleaded no contest Monday in San Mateo County Superior Court to false imprisonment and robbery, plus firearm enhancements, in a plea deal related to the August incident.

Rodriguez worked as an independent contractor for a recreational vehicle company, driving RVs to customers who rented them for short-term trips, according to prosecutors.

On the afternoon of Aug. 3, his employer — a 68-yearold man — drove up from Southern California with another man to deliver $1,270 he owed to Rodriguez.

But when the two arrived at Rodriguez’s house to drop off the money, he came out dressed in full camouflage, including gloves, a hat and sunglasses, prosecutors said.

He was carrying an AR15 assault rifle and had a Glock pistol cocked on his hip.

Rodriguez pointed the rifle at his boss, prosecutors said, and demanded he go inside the house. Fearing for his life, the man pulled Rodriguez about 10 feet to the side of the car to reason with him.

Rodriguez patted him down and took the man’s car keys — when he saw the passenger inside his boss’s car calling 911.

At that point, Rodriguez turned the rifle to the passenger and snatched his cellphone, prosecutors said.

But Rodriguez’s boss, still standing off to the side, managed to call 911 instead.

Police arrived within minutes and arrested Rodriguez. Inside the house, they recovered two more guns and several hundred rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.

Rodriguez faces more than four years in prison for the charges and will be sentenced March 26.

He remains out of custody after posting $300,000 bail in October.