The Region - News from Feb. 20, 1986

An armed robber who tossed cash out of the windows of his getaway car as Costa Mesa police pursued him on the Costa Mesa Freeway was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. David Cota, 21, of Pico Rivera, carried a loaded, sawed-off shotgun into Glendale Federal Savings & Loan Assn.’s office on Harbor Boulevard on Oct. 19, 1985, ordered tellers to empty their cash drawers and escaped with about $8,400. With police cars in pursuit, Cota tossed about $5,000 cash out the windows, to the astonishment of freeway motorists. When he pleaded guilty last month, Cota maintained that he had no memory of the robbery because he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. “The only thing I’m certain of is that you are a clear danger to society,” U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said in passing sentence. “I’d be inclined to take a gamble if not for your past.” Cota previously served 2 1/2 years in prison for the strangulation death of a man who picked him up while he was hitchhiking near Crestline.