Bekele

I. Introduction

Yayehyerade Bekele appeals from a judgment of conviction for armed robbery, assault with a firearm, and related offenses. We hold there was substantial evidence of armed robbery of a property owner’s companion where the companion had implied authority to help stop a theft in progress, but there was no substantial evidence of assault with a firearm because there was no evidence that the firearm was loaded.

II. Facts and Procedure

Robert Jump was driving a front-end loader on a city street, with coworker Paco Fernandez as his passenger, in the course of their employment by the San Francisco Water Department, when they saw Bekele burglarizing Jump’s pickup truck, which was parked on the street. Jump said to Fernandez, “Let’s stop” and “There is somebody in my truck.” Jump stopped the front-end loader. Bekele was putting Jump’s tape deck into a black backpack and removing speakers from the truck. According to Fernandez, Jump approached one side of the truck, while Fernandez ran to the other side. Bekele emerged from the truck on Fernandez’s side. Jump and Fernandez told Bekele to stop, and then Fernandez struck Bekele, dislodging a baseball cap from…