Three men convicted in carjacking and chase

— Three men accused of taking part in a carjacking in Pacific Beach last year, possibly because one of the victims owed money on a drug debt, were convicted Monday of felony charges including kidnapping during a carjacking and recklessly evading a police officer.

Gustavo Martinez, 22, Rafael Ortiz, 23, and Raymundo Quezada, 25, all of Los Angeles, are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 10 in front of San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser.

Martinez, who also faced a gun-use allegation, could be sentenced to up to 34 years to life in prison. Ortiz and Quezada each face a maximum of 16 years to life.

Deputy District Attorney Mark Amador said the three men carjacked a BMW, with the female owner and her then-boyfriend still in it, about 11:45 a.m. Feb. 2, 2009. The men were wearing dark clothing and gloves when they got into the car on Ingraham Street near La Playa Avenue. They had two handguns and a stun gun.

Amador said a witness who saw the incident called police and gave a description of the car. The carjackers drove the BMW south on Ingraham Street. An officer spotted the BMW and followed it onto eastbound Interstate 8.

A high-speed chase ensued on and off the freeway in Mission Valley and the two handguns were thrown from the car, prosecutors said.

The carjackers eventually stopped the car near the freeway median, jumped out of the car, ran across the westbound traffic lanes and tried to escape in a riverbed behind the Motel 6 on Hotel Circle North, but police caught up to them.

Defense lawyers contended during the trial that the male victim, a known drug dealer, may have set up the carjacking, but the jury apparently believed otherwise.

Prosecutors said the male victim and two other men, Arturo Galarza, 40, and Daniel Jasso, 33, owed $70,000 to $100,000 to Mexican drug traffickers because a marijuana shipment went missing. Galarza and Jasso are believed to have set up the carjacking, with the intent of holding the victims for ransom.

They each pleaded guilty to kidnapping charges and were sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Dana Littlefield: (619) 293-1287;


