The male bystander attempted to grab the knife and, after a struggle in which the bystander received a cut hand, he was able to disarm Zepeda. Zepeda, who did not obtain any money in the robbery attempt, fled the area on foot.SPPD investigators reviewed the security surveillance tape of the incident and recognized the robber as Zepeda, a known gang member. The next morning, SPPD officers spotted Zepeda walking in the 200 block of North Palm Avenue and he was arrested without incident.Originally charged with multiple counts of robbery, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon, Zepeda will be sentenced next month. That Zepeda brandished a knife and physically threatened the victims during the actual and attempted robberies and his status as a known gang member led to the decision by the District Attorney’s Office to try him as an adult.Juarez said Zepeda’s swift capture can be credited to the Santa Paula victim having an operable, good quality surveillance tape system in his business, as well as SPPD officers’ knowledge of community members, both the good and the lawbreakers.
Manuel Zepeda: SP juvenile gang member enters guilty plea in adult court
August 27, 2008
Santa Paula News
A known Santa Paula juvenile gang member will be sentenced next month after the guilty plea entered in adult court to a series of armed robberies.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesA known Santa Paula juvenile gang member will be sentenced next month after the guilty plea entered in adult court to a series of armed robberies. Manuel Zepeda, then 16, was arrested February 25 in the city shortly after Santa Paula police investigators recognized him from a surveillance tape from one of the three robberies committed during a mini-crime spree.“We had officers in court ready to testify” when Zepeda, who had been held in jail since his arrest, entered the guilty plea on Thursday, according to Santa Paula Police Lieutenant Carlos Juarez.Zepeda robbed three locations over the evening of February 23 and through the morning of February 24. Two Saticoy area convenience stores were robbed at knifepoint before Zepeda hit the Alliance Gas Station, located at the corner of Harvard Boulevard and Palm Avenue.When Zepeda entered the convenience store, a male customer was talking to the female clerk. Zepeda approached the pair with a knife and demanded money.
