'Chrome Revolver Bandit' Faces Life in Prison

A parolee suspected of committing dozens of Bay Area robberies using a chrome revolver has been charged with 37 felony counts in San Mateo County Superior Court.

In the most serious case, Ricky Renee Sanders, 34 -- known as the "chrome revolver bandit" because of the silver-barreled revolver he allegedly used in some of the holdups -- is accused of shooting a store clerk while robbing a PetSmart store in San Mateo on Oct. 8, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

The employee was shot in the leg and survived, but suffered a severed femoral artery, prosecutors said.

Investigators believe Sanders is linked to as many as 30 armed robberies or attempted robberies in at retail businesses around the Bay Area. The crimes include holdups at BevMos in Redwood City, Colma, Menlo Park; a GameStop in San Carlos and Colma; a PetCo in San Bruno; and businesses in San Francisco, San Jose, Daly City and Fremont,
prosecutors said.

Sanders after he allegedly left a fingerprint at a San Jose PetSmart store during an armed robbery on Oct. 30, according to the district attorney's office.

Sanders appeared in court to be arraigned Wednesday on 16 counts of robbery with a firearm, five counts of attempted robbery, six counts of assault with a firearm, nine counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of mayhem.

As a third-strike defendant, Sanders faces life in prison if convicted.

He is expected to enter a plea in court in Redwood City on Tuesday.

-Bay City News

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