Man gets 5 years for snatching tr-tip from SLO grocery
December 14, 2019
Dennis Wheeler
By CCT STAFF
A 30-year-old man was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison for using a deadly weapon in the theft of $150 worth of tri-tip from the Smart and Final on Johnson Avenue in San Luis Obispo.
In 2018, Dennis Wheeler put more than $150 worth of tri-tip steak into a bag and tried to get away through an emergency exit without paying. A store employee followed Wheeler outside the store, where Wheeler brandished a knife at the employee’s chest.
The Smart and Final employee quickly backed away and Wheeler escaped on a bicycle.
San Luis Obispo police officers recognized a photo of Wheeler, who had two previous convictions. A few hours later, officers arrested Wheeler.
After less than an hour, a jury convicted Wheeler. On Thursday, Judge Hernaldo J. Baltonado sentenced Wheeler to five years in state prison.
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