VAN NUYS : Plea Bargain Worked Out in Knife Attack
In a plea bargain under which they will each serve four years in prison, two men pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of robbery in a savage West Hills convenience store holdup.
Carlos Ramon Garcia, 20, of Simi Valley and David Michael Delahanty, 19, of Chatsworth, admitted in Van Nuys Municipal Court they were among four men who robbed a 7-Eleven store on March 24. The incident left a clerk near death from nearly two dozen stab wounds.
Judge Michael S. Luros accepted the pair’s guilty pleas and scheduled an Oct. 26 sentencing.
As part of the deal, prosecutors will drop charges of attempted murder related to the brutal stabbing of Amolak Singh Saini, a 27-year-old Indian immigrant who had worked at the Saticoy Street store for less than a month at the time of the attack.
The defendants would have faced life imprisonment if they had been convicted on the attempted murder charges.
Responding to questions from Deputy Dist. Atty. Steve Ipsen, Garcia admitted removing a cash register from the store, and Delahanty said he placed a knife on the counter before he also took a cash register.
Still charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing Saini are Frank Eric Kaatz, 19, and Scott Howard Goodman, 22, both of Chatsworth.
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