People v. Vance CA4/2

STATEMENT OF FACTS

A. The Jack in the Box Robbery

About 9:00 p.m. on January 18, 2011, five employees were working at a Jack in

the Box restaurant located in Colton, California: Javid Bholat, the manager; Monica

Ramirez, the cashier; Guadalupe Moreno and Carlos Melendez, both cooks; and Ariadne

Cedillo, the shift leader.

In addition to a kitchen area, the food restaurant has an interior manager‟s office,

five by 13 feet, with two safes. The sink area is behind the office and the break room is

behind the sink area. The sink area and the break room are at the back of the restaurant.

Bholat, Melendez and Cedillo were standing in the kitchen near the deep-fat fryer.

Near the back of the restaurant, Moreno was washing dishes at the sinks and Ramirez was

coming out of the break room. A hooded, masked man—wearing gloves and carrying a

3 handgun—jumped over the front counter, demanded money, and herded all five

employees into the manager‟s office in the center of the restaurant. All the employees

were afraid and felt threatened.

Bholat, the manager, testified that the gunman singled him out and, pointing the

gun, asked, “Where is the money?” Although there were two open…