3 men sent to prison for using stolen vehicles to ram police cars
Three men who prosecutors said used stolen vehicles to ram police cars and committed nightly felonies for years were sentenced Monday to at least eight years behind bars.
Hugo Carbajal Jr., 32, Francis Carbajal, 31, and Edgar Medina, 39, reached a deal with prosecutors to serve up to 20 years. District Judge Stefany Miley handed down their sentences during a short hearing in which none of the defendants spoke.
The three previously each faced more than 100 felony counts, which could have resulted in decades and potentially life behind bars had they been convicted at a trial.
In October, the Carbajals and Medina pleaded guilty to charges including grand larceny, tampering with a motor vehicle, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of stolen property after prosecutors dropped many of the felony counts against them.
Hugo Carbajal pleaded guilty to 17 felonies, Francis Carbajal pleaded guilty to 15 and Medina pleaded guilty to 12.
The Carbajals and Medina were suspected of being the ringleaders among six men accused of committing 20 to 25 felonies per night for the past few years, mostly auto thefts and burglaries, authorities said at the time of their indictments in late 2015.
While searching the Carbajal home, police found stolen property, including all-terrain vehicles, tools, go-karts, .50-caliber rifles and other weapons.
Police said at the time that the group stole vehicles, rigged them by putting something heavy on the accelerator and aimed them toward patrol cars belonging to the Bureau of Land Management, Metropolitan Police Department and Nevada Highway Patrol. That began April 29, 2015, and continued for three months.
The vehicular missiles didn’t always hit their mark. One rammed an officer’s neighbor’s car. When the group aimed a vehicle stolen in Mesquite at an officer conducting a traffic stop near Bermuda Road and Starr Avenue, the car missed the officer and hit a pole.
Metro released surveillance video of the group it said was ramming police cars, and tips quickly helped lead to arrests.
Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.