People v. Ayala CA4/3

FACTS

On the morning of April 8, 2022, R.M. was carjacked by two Hispanic men in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Santa Ana. R.M. did not see the men when he first parked his 2006 Ford Explorer at the store. But as he was about to exit the vehicle, a man in a white shirt opened his door and told him to step outside. R.M. restarted his vehicle, hoping he could drive away. But a second man, who was wearing a black shirt, put a bladed weapon against his ribs and told him he had three seconds to get out of the vehicle. R.M. complied, and after the men departed in his vehicle, he called 911. R.M. told responding officers that the man in the white shirt was short and stocky, and the other man was taller and thinner with facial hair and a tattoo. He described the taller man’s weapon as a knife-like object, roughly six to eight inches in length.

2 The following evening at 10:00 o’clock, Santa Ana Police Officer Travis Kennedy stopped a 2006 Ford Explorer near the intersection of Standard and Edinger for a traffic violation. When Kennedy approached the vehicle, he saw two Hispanic men inside; defendant, who was behind the wheel, and defendant’s cousin, who was in the front passenger…