Redwood City Man Enters No Contest Plea in Skull Mask Robberies

By Bay City News, image via Shutterstock

A Redwood City man pleaded no contest Monday to robbery charges in connection with a series of armed robberies he committed last year, some while wearing a skull mask, San Mateo County prosecutors said today.

Febronio Mendoza, 19, pleaded no contest to two counts of felony robbery with enhancements for firearm use and prior strikes in return for an agreed-upon sentence of five to 10 years in state prison, according to the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors said Mendoza first robbed a 7-Eleven store of $120 at 1700 Broadway in Redwood City around 3 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2014. Police at the time said he told the clerk he had a gun and simulated holding it in his front pants pocket. Later that day, around 10:30 a.m., he attempted to rob a Subway sandwich shop at 1926 El Camino Real while wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt and a mask, which prosecutors later described as a skull mask.

An employee refused to hand over any money and Mendoza fled, according to prosecutors. He then went to another Subway at 768 Woodside Road around 10:40 a.m., still in the same clothing and mask, and again demanded money. This time, he showed the store employee a handgun tucked into his waistband and the employee handed over some money.

Witnesses saw Mendoza removing his mask as he left the scene and saw him getting into a dark-colored BMW before driving away. Police were able to obtain surveillance video footage of the car and connected it to a previous traffic stop in the area. Mendoza was arrested when he stopped into the Redwood City Police Department to report that his vehicle, a black 2006 BMW, had been involved in a hit-and-run.

Detectives were able to connect the vehicle to the robberies from earlier that day. A search warrant at his home turned up evidence including a handgun and two rifles that had been reported stolen from a residential burglary that had occurred previously in Mountain View, prosecutors said. Mendoza had been out of custody on $300,000 bail, but bail was revoked Monday and he was remanded into custody.

He is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 10 for sentencing.