A man who committed local crime sprees sentenced to eight years and four months; Monterey County DA’s Office
SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The DA's office announced that 59-year-old Leslie Joseph Flores Sr. of Monterey has been sentenced to eight years and four months for a "myriad of felony and misdemeanor crimes" committed over the past two years.
According to the DA's office, Flores Sr. is the owner of multiple rental properties in the City of Monterey.
They said that Flores Sr. has been charged with possession of a short-barreled rifle/assault weapon, failure to appear in court while on bail, failure to appear while on his own recognizance, reckless evading of a police officer, resisting a peace officer, various drug related charges, mail theft, assault likely to cause great bodily injury and trespassing on a renter’s property without consent.
On March 18, 2022, Flores Sr. and his son, Leslie Flores Jr., attacked a bouncer at the Britannia Arms in Monterey because he would not let them inside, according to the DA's office.
The DA's office says that over the next two and a half years, while Flores Sr.'s felony assault case was pending, he continued to pick up new criminal cases while out on bail.
They say he was caught multiple times with controlled substances or drug paraphernalia. He was also found in with his tenants’ mail and caught on video trespassing on one of his tenant’s properties.
Then, during a traffic stop, he was found in possession of an illegal assault rifle, but because of changes to California’s bail laws, the DA's office says that Flores Sr. was able to remain out of custody.
By mid-2023, officials say that Flores Sr. evaded the court system or even lied about not showing up to appearance dates while continuing criminal behavior. At this point, they say that he risked staying in custody without bail.
Flores Sr. continued to evade the court system until police had to go after him, in which case Flores Sr. would attempt to flee, according to DA's office. He even led police on a high-speed chase two times, they said.
Finally, on July 3 this year, Monterey Police’s SWAT team set up a perimeter to prevent Flores Sr. from escaping his home, which led to a seven-hour standoff until SWAT eventually cleared the home.
Flores Sr. had 14 separate pending felony and misdemeanor cases, according to the DA's office. He was held in custody with no bail, they say.
They said that in October a jury trial commenced and Flores Sr. plead no contest to all charges and enhancements in his case.
On Wednesday, Flores Sr. was sentenced to six years and four months in addition to two years of local jail time consecutive to the prison sentence, according to the DA's office.
