Crime & Safety
Suspect in 2012 Royalty Spa Armed Robbery, Subsequent Carjacking Pleads Not Guilty
Los Angeles area man, 33, is accused of robbing a spa as it closed at night and carjacking a woman in the Alto neighborhood the next afternoon.
A Los Angeles area man accused of robbing the Royalty Spa on Miller Ave. at gunpoint in May 2012 and carjacking a woman on Dorset Lane one day later pleaded not guilty Monday morning to the seven felony charges he's facing, according to the Marin County Superior Court clerk's office.
Jorge Estrada, 33, of Wilmington, Calif., remains in Marin County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail on charges of carjacking, taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, false imprisonment by violence, making criminal threats, robbery and burglary.
Earlier this month, Estrada waived his right to have a preliminary hearing in in which the prosecution would argue that there is enough evidence to take the case to trial. According to the Mill Valley Herald, when Marin Superior Court Judge James R. Ritchie told Estrada that he was waiving the right to confront the witnesses in the cases, he replied, “They have been hurt enough, I agree to waive the hearing.”
The charges facing Estrada date back to a pair of incidents in early May 2012.
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In the first, a man displaying a handgun surprised two female employees of the Royalty Spa at 314 Miller Ave. as they were locking up for the night at around 10 p.m., according to police. The man forced the employees at gun point to hand over an undisclosed amount of cash, keys to each of their cars – a white Kia Sedona van and a 1999 black Honda Civic which were subsequently stolen – as well as some additional property.
The next afternoon, a Dorset Lane woman reported that she was carjacked in the driveway of her home at around 2 p.m., with the suspect brandishing a gun and demanding her keys before fleeing in her silver 2007 BMW X5 SUV, police said.
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Estrada was arrested at around 2:30 a.m. on May 8, 2012, by Walnut Creek Police. Estrada allegedly was driving the Kia minivan that was reported stolen during the Royalty Spa armed robbery. He was booked into Contra Costa County Jail on stolen vehicle and narcotics charges and transferred to Marin County Jail three months later.
Mill Valley Police said Walnut Creek police officers found a credit card and paperwork belonging to the Dorset Avenue carjack victim on Estrada when he was arrested, as well as a silver handgun similar to the one described by the victims of the spa robbery.
The two incidents served as a one-two punch of crime over a weekend in May 2012 on the heels of an alleged drive-by attempted murder that was later linked to teen Max Wade, as well as a wild police footchase with a half-naked burglar.
Estrada is scheduled to be back in court on Sept. 23.
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