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Ceres man gets six-year sentence for 2014 attacks
Double stabbings, robbery nets pair Strikes convictions
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Randy Salazar, left, showing a smug look in his booking photo, was sentenced to six years in state prison for last years stabbing that also involved Krysta Rashell LaFrancis. - photo by Contributed to the Courier

The Ceres couple who staged a robbery of a good samaritan that astounded the community a year ago, was convicted and sentenced on Friday, June 19.

Randy Scott Salazar and Krysta Rashell LaFrancis were both convicted of robbery and felony assault based on two separate incidents.

Deputy District Attorney Jessica Bustos prosecuted the case.

Police said that a 51-year-old man came to Ceres Fire Station #4 on Fowler Road early on the morning of July 3, 2014 after he was stabbed in the abdomen. The victim had been walking his bike on a canal bank after getting a flat tire when Salazar approached him, grabbed the hat off his head and stabbed him with a sharp instrument in the chest area. The victim tried to get away but Salazar and his dog chased after him and continued his assault and theft of the victim's backpack. Meanwhile, LaFrancis took the bike as the couple walked off.

A second attack occurred about 20 minutes later when Ceres police found a 21-year-old male standing in the middle of the street waving his hands for help with a stab wound. The second victim reported that he was driving on Mitchell Road when Salazar and LaFrancis, and the off-leash pit bull were jay-walking in the street. The driver said he was unable to avoid colliding with the dog in the road. The victim pulled over to check on the animal and apologize to the owners when Salazar angrily confronted him. Salazar attempted to punch the man several times and eventually stabbed him in the abdomen.

Both men recovered.

The area was searched but nobody was found. However, just before 4 a.m., a security guard reported seeing a male, female, and dog matching the description of the suspects in the area of Rose Avenue and 10th Street. A perimeter was set up and Salazar, then 18, was taken into custody and booked at the Stanislaus County Jail for robbery and attempted murder.

LaFrancis, then 19, was arrested at Ceres Police Department when she attempted to collect her personal property from the scene the night before. She was booked at the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center for robbery and attempted murder.

Salazar pled no contest to robbery of the first victim and admitted to personally causing great bodily injury. He also pled no contest to assault with a deadly weapon on the second victim and again causing great bodily injury. Both charges are considered "strikes" under California's Three Strikes law and will result in increased penalties if Salazar commits future felony crimes. He was sentenced the same day by Judge Linda McFadden to serve a term of six years in state prison.

Salazar also pled no contest to an unrelated vehicle theft case and was sentenced to an additional eight months in prison for that charge.

LaFrancis pled to an attempted robbery charge which is also a "strike" under the Three Strikes law. She was released on probation the same day with a completed 365-day jail sentence.