Three Vallejo men are behind bars on accusations they followed a couple from the San Pablo Lytton Casino to a South San Francisco Walgreens parking lot and robbed them of their winnings and an expensive purse at gunpoint Sunday evening, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.
James Louis Brisker IV, Eric Hamilton and Jaymon Matthews appeared in court Wednesday three days after they were arrested by Daly City police officers who stopped them on Interstate 280 minutes after the alleged robbery. Believed to have held the couple at gunpoint, Brisker, 26, pleaded not guilty to charges of armed robbery and possession of a firearm while Hamilton, 31, and Matthews, 23, pleaded not guilty to two counts of robbery and possession of a firearm as an accomplice, according to prosecutors.
The trio is believed to have observed a 62-year-old woman and her 61-year-old husband at the San Pablo Lytton Casino and followed them some 30 miles as they drove to their home in South San Francisco. The couple allegedly stopped in the parking lot of a Walgreens at 2238 Westborough Blvd. at around 6:50 p.m. March 31 and was blocked in their spot by the car Hamilton was driving with the other two as passengers, according to prosecutors.
Brisker and Matthews allegedly got out of the car and opened the driver’s door of the couple’s car. Brisker allegedly put the gun to the woman’s head and demanded she give him her purse and all her money. The woman tried to move away from the car, and they allegedly pushed her back into it and took her Louis Vuitton purse, which was valued at $2,700, and some $2,000 in cash, according to prosecutors.
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The pair then allegedly demanded her husband give them all of his money, so the man gave them $400 in cash and the trio drove away from the Walgreens parking lot. The couple was able to take down the license plate number of the car Hamilton was driving and immediately called 911, which triggered a countywide “be on the lookout” alert, according to prosecutors.
The car was seen minutes after the alert was sent by Daly City police officers going northbound on Interstate 280. When they initiated a traffic stop, the men were allegedly found with the woman’s purse and a loaded 9 mm handgun in the backseat of the car, according to prosecutors.
Though the three men allegedly denied being involved in the robbery, the alleged victims were able to identify Brisker as the man who held them at gunpoint, according to prosecutors.
All three men have prior records, including robbery for Brisker and Matthews, and are facing lengthy prison terms for the alleged robbery. Brisker is facing 30 years in state prison, Hamilton is facing an 8-year state prison term and Matthews is facing 13 years in state prison, according to prosecutors.
The county’s private defender program was appointed to all three of their cases Wednesday and they did not give up their right to a speedy preliminary hearing. Bail was set at $100,000 for Brisker and Matthews and $50,000 for Hamilton, and the three men will next appear in court April 16 for preliminary hearing, according to prosecutors.
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