Hollister
– Andrew Lopez pleaded no contest Tuesday to three felony
charges stemming from an April carjacking in a plea deal with
prosecutors that allows him to avoid life in prison.
Hollister – Andrew Lopez pleaded no contest Tuesday to three felony charges stemming from an April carjacking in a plea deal with prosecutors that allows him to avoid life in prison.
Lopez could face up to 18 years on the charges, according to San Benito County Deputy District Attorney Candice Hooper. He was originally charged with three felony counts of attempted second-degree murder, assault causing great bodily injury and resisting arrest along with street terrorism, according to San Benito County Superior Court documents. Lopez pleaded no contest to carjacking and assault with a deadly weapon done in conjunction with a street gang.
Lopez’s attorney, Public Defender Greg LaForge, said his client took the plea deal to avoid a harsher sentence.
“He was looking at life with the possibility of parole,” LaForge said.
At a sentencing hearing next month, LaForge said he will argue that his client doesn’t deserve prison time. He will try to get Lopez off on a felony parole sentence.
“We believe there are some extenuating and mitigating circumstances,” LaForge said.
Hooper doesn’t believe the circumstances warrant letting Lopez off without a lengthy prison sentence.
“He was referred to a psychologist to see if he was competent to stand trial,” Hooper said. “He was found competent.”
Two mental health experts evaluated Lopez and declared him competent to stand trial.
Because of the violence involved with the crime, Hooper said Lopez will have to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole, depending on sentencing.
Lopez was arrested in April of 2006 when he carjacked and stabbed Carlos Gonzalez on Union Heights Road. Gonzalez was was taken to Hazel Hawkins Hospital and later flown to an undisclosed San Jose-area hospital in serious condition, according to law enforcement officials.
Deputies arrested Lopez an hour after the carjacking when he hit a parked car in San Juan Bautista while driving the stolen car. Lopez fled the car on foot after the crash and hid in the backyard of a nearby home. After San Juan Bautista residents reported spotting Lopez, deputies took him into custody by subduing him with a Taser stun gun.
Sheriff’s officers found Norteño headbands, gang pictures and a roster of 10 Norteño gang members after searching Lopez’s Hollister home, according to Lt. Roy Iler. Sheriff Curtis Hill said Lopez was considered a “hard-core” Norteño gang member.
“The danger of these guys is that they just take what they want,” he said. “This guy is claiming Norteño and he’s proud of it.”
Gonzalez is believed by police to be a member of the Sureño street gang. Deputies believe Lopez asked Gonzalez for a ride to a family’s house earlier in the evening on the night of the stabbing. Gonzalez agreed to give Lopez a ride, possibly because the two men live in the same neighborhood. Gonzalez later told investigaors that Lopez had ordered him to get out of the car. When he refused, Lopez stabbed him in the stomach. Gonzalez told deputies that he tried to run away, but was stabbed a second time in the back.
Lopez is being held at the San Benito County jail in lieu of $750,000 bail. He will be back in court Oct. 25 for sentencing.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335.
