A 32-year-old carjacker who ran over and killed a man who was trying to stop him from stealing his work van was convicted Thursday, Oct. 31, of first-degree murder.
Omar Sanchez and a woman carried out the carjacking turned killing of 33-year-old Jose Berrelleza-Ibarra during the early-morning hours of Sept. 22, 2020 in the 100 block of Melinda Circle in Anaheim.
Berrelleza-Ibarra left the work van parked at his brother-in-laws home because he was worried the vehicle would be stolen if he parked it in his own neighborhood, according to courtroom testimony.
That morning, Berrelleza-Ibarra had moved the 2014 Mercedes Sprinter van onto the street and left it running in order to warm it up while he stood nearby with his father and brother-in-law. Berrelleza-Ibarra’s brother-in-law spotted a man in the front seat of the van, an officer previously testified, and yelled out “Hey, there’s someone in your van!”
Berrelleza-Ibarra ran up to the van, opened the front passenger door but was unable to jump inside the vehicle as the driver tried to speed off, the brother-in-law later told police.
Berrelleza-Ibarra’s father told officers that as the van swerved his son fell underneath the vehicle and the right rear tire of the van ran over his head. His body was left in the street.
The brother-in-law drove after the stolen van, officers previously testified, following it through residential streets to an Anaheim motel a few miles away.
Yesenia Escareno — who authorities say drove Sanchez up to the van before he stole it — and Sanchez were both taken into custody.
Last year, Escareno pleaded guilty to carjacking and being an accessory after the fact, and was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison. Another woman — Adriana Gomez — admitted to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Sanchez is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Dec. 13.
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