OAKLAND – A former fugitive has pleaded no contest to a lesser offense in reference to a 2022 armored truck robbery wherein a security guard was shot behind the pinnacle and killed.
Artemio Torres, 28, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in exchange for a dismissal of robbery charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced in October to 2 years' probation, to associate with the time he has already served in prison, court records show.
Torres' co-defendant Akbar Bey stays in jail, charged with murdering 60-year-old John Mendez in the course of the robbery on Sept. 7, 2022. Prosecutors say Bey shot Mendez behind the pinnacle before stepping into Torres' vehicle and fleeing.
Both Bey and Torres were former employees of the GardaWorld trucking company and allegedly planned to rob it when security guards dropped something off at a Kaiser constructing in San Leandro. Bey and Mendez were partners when Bey was employed there. Authorities say Bey and Torres were fired after being accused of embezzling money.
Bey was arrested shortly after the shooting, but Torres remained on the run for greater than a yr after fleeing the state, police said. He was arrested last June on a warrant for robbery and agreed to plead “no contest” on Aug. 16, records show.
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