The robber dubbed the “Long Jaw Bandit” for his protruding jaw pleaded guilty to committing 12 hold-ups at South Bay businesses plus 23 robberies elsewhere and faces a 39-year prison term.
Roger Bruce Jones, 44, of Tijuana, will be sentenced on May 27 by San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide.
Jones pleaded guilty to all 35 robbery charges without a plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office on March 8.
Eyherabide told him he faced a maximum term of 39 years in prison.
Jones was given the nickname by law enforcement agencies because of his “pronounced jaw,” said Deputy District Attorney Allison Worden.
The robberies started Aug. 11, 2009, and ended Dec. 20. Each hold-up was similar in that Jones would take some items to purchase, but then robbed the clerk of cash in the register.
Jones told each victim he was armed, but a gun was not seen by most of the clerks.
He picked shoe stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, adult bookstores and office equipment businesses. He only robbed one bank and that was a Wells Fargo branch on Bonita Road on Nov. 23.
A total loss estimate was not available, but he stole $4,000 in the first 10 hold-ups, according to the prosecutor. He pleaded guilty on the day of his preliminary hearing.
Chula Vista stores which were robbed include two Vons stores, Staples, Payless Shoes and the F Street Bookstore. He held up an Office Depot in National City, a Vons on Bonita Road, a 76 service station on Palm Avenue, a Radio Shack in Imperial Beach, Payless Shoes and a 7-Eleven, both in San Ysidro.
A fingerprint was found at one of the robberies and that led to his identity. He was arrested Dec. 26 while trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Jones remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility on $500,000 bail.
