The Examiner recently published a story about Charles Ryan, the man who assaulted and robbed a Richmond District resident after they pulled into their garage on 9th Avenue near Lake Street in late December.
Ryan, 40 years old, 6-5″ and 205 pounds, struck 60-year old Richard Johns several times, landing him in the emergency room with 15 forehead stitches, about the same amount inside his mouth and a fractured finger. All just for his wallet.
Johns, a San Francisco attorney, told the Examiner that after Ryan demanded his wallet he said, “Fine, but you didn’t have to do this to me. And then he hit me again.” Ryan is 40 years old, 6′-5” and 205 pounds.
Be thankful that Ryan is finally off the street. The Examiner found out that he has a long rap sheet that includes at least nine robberies. Ryan pled not guilty to the December 29th attack but if convicted, it would be his 11th strike under California’s three strikes law.
Normally, when someone is convicted on their third strike, it carries a sentence of 25 years to life. How did a criminal menace like Charles Ryan slip through the cracks? Despite having 10 strikes on his record, was not tried under the three strikes law because it wasn’t passed until 1994.
The Examiner writes, “According to Brian Buckelew, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office, Ryan’s first strike came in 1990 for a San Francisco street robbery. In 1992, he was accused of nine more robberies throughout that year.”
Those nine cases were merged into one and Ryan received a 24-year sentence in a plea deal. He was recently released on parole, but arrested soon after on January 7 on suspicion of dealing cocaine.
Detectives and officers from the Richmond District station say that clues point to Ryan as the 9th Avenue attacker. Ryan’s public defender, Aleem Raja, says that police have the wrong man in custody. “The police and prosecutor are looking at Mr. Ryan’s past and ignoring the lack of evidence in the case.”
Ryan is currently in jail on $2 million bail. Thank god.
Sarah B.
Doesn’t Kamala require 25 strikes?
(I wish I were kidding.)
Good job Richmond Station!