“I have a gun! I’m gonna kill everybody!” – felon on probation for bank robbery and carjacking set for sentencing in San Francisco bank robbery and carjacking
A violent felon who threatened to shoot dead San Francisco bank tellers during a drug-fueled robbery spree that culminated in a carjacking in which he threatened to shoot a driver, should be sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment, federal prosecutors say.
James Garrison was arrested on January 3 2025 during an SFPD pursuit in which he jumped into a Lexus on Geary Street, put a replica gun to the driver’s head and said he would open fire if he didn’t drive. He was detained by cops moments after the car pulled away.
He will appear June 4 for sentencing at San Francisco federal courthouse. He earlier pleaded guilty to bank robbery and carjacking and admitted violating the terms of his probation.
The court was told Garrison stuck up a Wells Fargo branch in Westwood Park on December 27 2024 – shouting “I have a gun! I’m gonna kill everybody!” while brandishing a fake pistol.
“I’m gonna kill you if you don’t give me the money!” he then told a shocked teller who hurriedly gave him cash.
Garrison also robbed a Westamerica Bank in Rohnert Park twice. On December 5 2024 he made off with more than $13,000 after telling an employee “come on, do you want me to shoot you?” and “I will shoot you, come on” during a robbery. And on January 2 2025 he stole more than $6,000 after telling the staff member that he had a gun.
The next day he was spotted by San Francisco police in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood.
Months before the robberies, the court was told, Garrison threatened to shoot everyone at his former workplace. At the time he had recently been fired by Glide Memorial Church.
Garrison was on probation after a 1998 conviction for armed bank robbery, carjacking and gun possession following a string of 12 bank robberies in California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Arizona and Nevada, for which he received a 25-year sentence.
He was a frequent user of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.
“The defendant has a violent and lengthy criminal past,” wrote assistant U.S. attorney Elizabeth Wilson in her sentencing memorandum. “He committed the three brazen bank robberies and carjacking of an innocent individual while on supervised release for committing bank robberies and carjacking. A 135-month sentence is the appropriate sentence in this case.”
Attorneys for Garrison say he has been sober while in San Francisco County Jail since his arrest and that his crimes are driven by his fondness for narcotics. He ought to be allowed to avoid prison and attend a two-year residential program in San Francisco run by the Delancey Street Foundation.
Garrison will be sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin.
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