Omar Sanchez, a 32-year-old carjacker who was stealing a Santa Ana man’s work truck than fatally ran him over with it, was sentenced on Friday, Dec. 13, to 25 years to life in prison.
Sanchez was convicted last month of first-degree murder for the carjacking-turned-killing of Jose Berrelleza-Ibarra, a 33-year-old man, on Sept. 22, 2020, in the early morning.
Berrelleza-Ibarra had left his work truck at his brother-in-law’s home on Melinda Circle in Anaheim because he was worried the vehicle would be stolen if he left it parked in his own neighborhood, in Santa Ana.
The morning of the carjacking, Berrelleza-Ibarra had left the 2014 Mercedes Sprinter van running in order to warm it up while he stood nearby with his brother-in-law and his father. The brother-in-law suddenly yelled out “Hey, there’s someone in your van!”
Berrelleza-Ibarra then ran to the van and he was even able to open the front passenger door but he was not able to jump inside as the thief sped off, according to the brother-in-law’s later conversation with the police.
Berrelleza-Ibarra somehow fell underneath the vehicle that was being stolen, as it swerved, and the right rear tire drove right over his head.
The brother-in-law drove sped off after the stolen van and was able to follow it through residential streets to an Anaheim motel located just a few miles away.
Sanchez, who was driving the van when it ran over Berrelleza-Ibarra, and Yesenia Escareno, who authorities allege drove Sanchez up to the van before he stole it, were subsequently both arrested by the Anaheim Police Department.
Escareno pleaded guilty last year to carjacking and being an accessory after the fact and she was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison. A second female suspect, Adriana Gomez, also admitted to being an accessory after the fact and she received a two-year prison sentence.
The Berrelleza-Ibarra family was able to raise over forty thousand dollars on GoFundMe.
Berrelleza-Ibarra left behind an 8-year-old daughter.
