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Crime & Safety

Half Moon Bay Man Receives Reduced Sentence for Elder Abuse, Kidnapping

Vittorio Vincent Valdez receives reduced terms as part of plea bargain.

A Half Moon Bay resident accused of abusing and kidnapping his 82-year-old grandmother while she drove him home last fall was sentenced on Wednesday to three years in prison, according to San Mateo County Chief Criminal Deputy District Attorney Karen Guidotti.

The charges against Vittorio Vincent Valdez, 27, originated from an incident on Sept. 24 where Valdez allegedly became "angry" at his grandmother because she was driving too slow, "pounded" on the dashboard and "pushed" her right leg down to make the car go faster, according to a report from the District Attorney's office.

The report stated that Valdez allegedly pulled his grandmother out from the driver's seat, "threw" her in the passenger's seat and punched her in the face several times after she tried to leave.

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According to the report, San Mateo County Sheriff's Deputy Marty found .05 grams of heroin in the car's center console after pulling over Valdez.

Deputy Marty pulled Valdez over shortly after seeing Valdez and his grandmother in the car on Highway 92 in Half Moon Bay, the report noted.

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The 105-lb. grandmother refused medical attention after the incident and said that Valdez never hit her, according to the report.

Valdez was originally facing which the court dropped in November as part of a in exchange for pleading no contest for the charges of elder abuse and kidnapping.

"On all charges, the defendant faced up to 10 years in prison," Wagstaffe told Half Moon Bay Patch in November. "Judge Novak considered his minimal record and the victim's desire that nothing happen to him in giving him the lower maximum [sentence] in return for a plea."

The plea bargain reduced Valdez's maximum sentence to four years in prison.

In November, Valdez also admitted a serious felony allegation for kidnapping, which means that that his conviction will count as a strike against him under California's Three Strikes law, according to Wagstaffe.

"The allegation merely means that if he is convicted of any felony in another case in the future, he will have one prior strike conviction and his sentence in that future case will be doubled," Wagstaffe told Half Moon Bay Patch in November.

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