One of two men dubbed the “Thong Bandits” by Arvada police last summer was sentenced to 12 years in prison Tuesday.
Joaquin Rico, 20, of Lakewood stole from two cash registers in the Diamond Shamrock store at West 68th Avenue and Wads- worth Boulevard and assaulted the clerk.
Rico and co-defendant Joseph Richard Espinoza, 25, also of Lakewood, were wearing women’s underwear over their faces during the robbery May 15. Both men pleaded guilty.
New details of the robbery were provided by the Jefferson County district attorney’s office Tuesday.
The pair threw a rock through the window of the convenience store at 5 a.m., shortly after the clerk, a 35-year-old woman, had opened the store, prosecutors said. Once inside, Rico grabbed her by the neck and punched her in the face several times, breaking her jaw, prosecutors said. While Rico collected about $100 from cash registers, Espinoza stole 37 packs of cigarettes. Espinoza is to be sentenced Monday. Joey Bunch, The Denver Post
