People v. Valentin CA3

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Just before 8:30 p.m. on August 29, 2013, Jesse Mejia walked into the store of a local gas station and saw defendant and a second man standing at the cash register. Mejia recognized defendant as someone he had seen about five times driving too fast around the neighborhood. Mejia saw defendant holding a shiny revolver in his hand. Defendant flashed the gun and said, “I keep mines with me.” Although Mejia was unfamiliar with guns and would not know if a gun were real, he believed it was real and was scared. After a few seconds, defendant put the gun away into his waistband. Defendant and his companion left the store, returned to the gas pumps, and began interacting with a group of individuals at the pumps. Mejia completed his purchases and returned to his car parked in front of the store, where his girlfriend and five children were waiting for him. Mejia’s girlfriend said defendant had “mean mugged [the] whole car” and stared at her as he left the store, then Mejia told his girlfriend he had seen defendant holding a gun. They decided to call 911. The police arrived within five minutes of the 911 call. They detained defendant, who matched Mejia’s description of…