CANOGA PARK : Man Sentenced for Series of Robberies

A 20-year-old Canoga Park man Thursday was sentenced to state prison for 10 years for his role in a string of supermarket and pizza deliveryman robberies in the west San Fernando Valley.

D.J. Cekic and Deitrich O’Neal, 20, who last month was sentenced to 10 years in prison, were leaders of a gang of young people who held up seven markets and three pizza deliverers between April 18 and June 1, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeffrey S. Gootman.

“They had no prior criminal records,” the prosecutor said. “They basically were thrill-seekers.”

Three juveniles charged in the scheme were referred to juvenile court, authorities said.

Police say the group typically ordered a pizza delivered to an address on a dark street, then robbed the deliverer at gunpoint of both the pizza and car.

The car was then used as a getaway vehicle in market robberies, police said.

After a preliminary hearing in October, Cekic was ordered to stand trial on 10 robbery counts and O’Neal on seven robbery counts.

If convicted of all counts, Cekic could have been imprisoned for 31 years and O’Neal for 21 years, eight months, Gootman said.

But in a plea bargain approved by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Leon Kaplan, each defendant pleaded no contest to one count of robbery in return for a 10-year sentence.