Salinas man sentenced to 17 years in prison for armed robbery

A Salinas man was sentenced to 17 years in prison for multiple robbery and burglary charges.

In late April 2017, 21-year-old Luis Torres went to a Salinas gas station with a gun wearing a gorilla mask on and stole money from the clerk and two customers.

On May 3, Torres returned to the same gas station but this time the clerk tried to stop him.

“When he looked towards someone else for a moment, the clerk took the opportunity to try to wrestle the pistol away from him,” the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.

Torres fired his gun and was later stabbed by the clerk. Torres took the knife and stabbed the clerk in the right arm.

A customer in the gas station tried to help the clerk wrestle the gun away from Torres. The woman attempted to use her taser on Torres but it didn’t do much.

Torres was sentenced to 17 years and four months in state prison for two felony counts of robbery, one felony count of second degree burglary and a firearm enhancement for using a firearm during a robbery.

Torres pled no contest to the three felonies.