Sheriff deputies catch Dona Esther robbery suspect

A man who Sheriff deputies say wielded a knife at an employee at a popular Mexican restaurant in San Juan Bautista is now behind bars.

San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies say they responded to an armed robbery at Dona Esther Restaurant on Saturday evening right in the middle of dinner service.

When deputies arrived at the restaurant, the suspect had left the scene walking toward San Juan School.

The victim told deputies the suspect walked up to the bar inside Dona Esther’s, and exposed what he thought to be a knife. The suspect told the victim to give him all the money and after the victim gave the suspect an undisclosed amount of money, the suspect left the restaurant.

Through witness statements and further investigation, deputies were able to identify Albert Spedalieri as the suspect.

Deputies worked throughout the night on leads, and were able to track down Spedalieri in Hollister and make an arrest.

Deputies did recover money from Spedalieri’s pockets which they believe to have been stolen from Dona Esther’s earlier in the evening. Spedalieri was booked into the county jail.