Man Sentenced to 475 Years for Robberies, Shootings

An Anaheim gang member who joined his father in a series of robberies and shootings was sentenced Friday to 475 years to life in state prison, the Orange County district attorney’s office said.

Efren Alex Garcia, 23, was convicted in December on charges that he was involved in two shootings, three robberies and an attempted robbery in a series of incidents that began Jan. 29, 1997.

Garcia also was convicted of conspiring with his father to escape either during his arraignment or by injuring himself in the Anaheim City Jail, then fleeing from a medical facility.

His father, Lupe Serrano Coronado, 45, was earlier sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in December to his role in the crimes, said Tori Richards, spokeswoman for the district attorney.

A third person involved in the crimes has not been caught, Richards said.

The crimes involved an unsuccessful robbery attempt at the drive-through window of an Anaheim fast-food restaurant and successful robberies at gas stations in Stanton and Fullerton. A total of $600 was taken, and a customer at one of the Fullerton gas stations was shot in the back but survived.

Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald sentenced Garcia under California’s three-strikes guidelines, Richards said.