A man who used a gun-shaped knife during a series of bank robberies, including one in Ingleside, along with a carjacking, was sentenced to prison last week.
James Michael Garrison, 63, pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery and one count of carjacking before U.S. District Judge Rita Lin sentenced him to seven years in prison plus three years of supervised release after time served.
“He has served repeated lengthy sentences, but he has never been provided a structured release plan that addresses his needs and puts him on the right path," Garrison’s defense attorney wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "It makes little sense to repeat the same approach again here."
All told, he got away with nearly $20,000.
Garrison first robbed WestAmerica Bank in Rohnert Park of $13,000 on Dec. 5, 2024.
“Come on, do you want me to shoot you?” he said to the bank teller, according to authorities.
The Ingleside Light Staff
On Dec. 27, 2024, Garrison entered Ingleside's Wells Fargo on Ocean Avenue. He threatened to kill the bank teller and was given $200.
Garrison left a cell phone on the teller's counter. The San Francisco Police Department's Ocean Avenue footbeat Officer Drewkai Butler responded to the scene, secured the interior and then handed off the case to SFPD Robbery Detail's Sgt. Kyle Wren.
Wren determined that the phone belonged to Garrison, matched his photo to surveillance footage and found that Garrison had an active federal bank robbery probation violation, according to SFPD.
DNA collected at the Wells Fargo matched the clothing left at the Rohnert Park robbery. Garrison was already wanted for the Rohnert Park robbery, Wren learned. Wren then obtained a GPS warrant.
On Jan. 2, 2025, Garrison returned to the Rohnert Park bank and took $6,000.
The next day, SFPD and U.S. Marshals located Garrison at a café in the Tenderloin. Garrison carjacked a rideshare driver using a gun-shaped knife to flee. Law enforcement officers wrestled him out of the vehicle and arrested him.
