Crime & Safety
Man Guilty of Robbery Spree Sentenced
Christopher Rosalio Morales will spend two-and-a-half decades behind bars for his role in a series of crimes spanning seven months.
A 23-year-old man who took part in a San Fernando Valley armed-robbery spree between November 2010 and June 2011 was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison.
Christopher Rosalio Morales, 23, pleaded no contest to seven counts of second-degree robbery and one count of attempted second-degree robbery for his part in the spree, which ended in North Hollywood with a car crash that drew gunfire from undercover Glendale police detectives.
Sentencing was postponed until Nov. 19 for Morales' co-defendant, 20- year-old Pacoima gang member David Cesar Santos, who was wounded in the crash and shooting. Santos was convicted by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury last month of six counts of second-degree robbery and one count each of assault on a peace officer and attempted second-degree robbery. Jurors also found true gang and gun allegations.
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Santos and Morales were arrested June 21, 2011, after Glendale police detectives conducting a surveillance operation in North Hollywood witnessed an armed robbery at Sylvan Street and Colfax Avenue, authorities said. They jumped in a Chrysler PT Cruiser after spotting the detectives, and Santos was wounded when he rammed the vehicle into a detective's car, drawing police gunfire.