Templeton robbery defendant evades adult court

January 27, 2017

Stating that 17-year-old Wyatt Douglas Warnars is unsophisticated and “the poster child for a juvenile delinquent,” San Luis Obispo Judge John Trice ruled the teen should be tried as a minor for his role in the Templeton home invasion robbery case. [Tribune]

Warnars can now avoid serving the 19-year prison sentence that was awaiting him had he accepted a plea deal offered by prosecutors. State law precludes individuals convicted in juvenile court from being held in custody beyond their 23rd birthday.

Trice’s ruling marks one of the first cases in SLO County that was swayed by the recent passage of Proposition 57, the early release for “non-violent” felons measure. Prop. 57 gives judges, rather than prosecutors, the power to decide whether or not to try minors as adults.

Last July, a group of five teens showed up at a sleepover party held at a rural Templeton home where mostly Mission Prep students were gathered. The teens left the party and returned around 3 a.m. armed with guns and a baseball bat and wearing bandanas over their faces.

When the alleged robbers returned, most of the partygoers were sleeping. The defendants allegedly fired shots into the air and forced the partygoers to go outside and lie on the grass.

Some of the teens were in their pajamas at the time, and some had no shirts on. Two of the partygoers were reportedly beaten over the head with a bat.

The alleged robbers reportedly turned on the sprinklers and terrorized the teens at the party for about an hour, before robbing them of wallets, phones and even a couple vehicles.

Shortly following the robbery, sheriff’s deputies arrested Donovan James Alford, Albert Charles Heinicke Jr., Marshal Ryan Kaplan and Levi Cody Mattson, in addition to Warnars. Kaplan, Mattson and Warnars were all minors.

Warnars, who was 16 at the time of the robbery, is charged with several felonies, including assault with a deadly weapon, residential burglary and home invasion robbery. If Warnars was convicted in adult court of all of his alleged crimes, he would face more than 100 years in prison.

There is conflicting testimony as to whether Warnars fired a gun during the robbery.

Warnars’ attorney, David Vogel, has said his client had a substance-abuse problem, as well as an auditory processing disorder. The robbery was a misguided attempt to steal alcohol that spun out of control, Vogel argued.

For two days prior to Trice’s ruling, Warnar’s father, sister and girlfriend testified the teen was a good kid who had recently begun abusing alcohol and marijuana and getting into trouble at school.

Vicki Angelini, an Eagle Canyon High School teacher, testified she taught Warnars at the Templeton continuation school for a year and a half ending in June. Angelini said Warnars fell into a downward spiral, failing to complete schoolwork and interrupting classes, at times with violent outbursts.

Angelini said Warnars has an alter ego that sent her home many nights, lying in bed, worrying about him. The teacher said she has never had a more difficult student than Warnars.

Nikita Brixey, Warnars’ former probation officer, said, prior to the robbery, the teen was on a six-month probation term for his third offense of driving without a license.

While delivering his ruling, Trice said he did not believe Warnars was a leader in the robbery. Also, the teen’s academic and criminal history, as well as the lack of planning in the robbery, showed Warnars’ lack of sophistication, Trice said.

Warnars’ hearings in juvenile court will begin in early February.

Similar hearings over the potential transfer of Mattson and Kaplan’s cases to juvenile court are scheduled for next month. Trice will preside over those hearings, as well.

Heinicke has accepted a plea deal of eight years in prison in exchange for testifying against his co-defendants. The district attorney’s office’s decision to offer Heinicke the chance to testify has been met with an angry reaction from several of the victims’ parents. Heinicke is accused of beating two teens over the head with a baseball bat during the robbery.