OAKLAND — A former fugitive has pleaded no contest to a lesser offense in connection with a 2022 armored truck robbery where a security guard was shot in the back of the head and killed.
Artemio Torres, 28, pleaded no contest to accessory in exchange for prosecutors dropping a robbery charge against him. He is scheduled to be sentenced in October to a two-year probation term and to time he has already served in jail, court records show.
Torres’ co-defendant, Akbar Bey, remains in jail and is facing charges of murdering 60-year-old John Mendez during the Sept. 7, 2022 robbery. Prosecutors say Bey shot Mendez during the back of the head before getting into Torres’ vehicle and fleeing.
Both Bey and Torres were former employees of the truck company GardaWorld, and allegedly planned to rob it as guards made a drop off at a Kaiser building in San Leandro. Bey and Mendez had been partners when Bey was employed there. Authorities say Bey and Torres were fired after being accused of embezzling money.
Bey was arrested soon after the shooting, but Torres remained on the lam for more than a year after fleeing the state, police said. He was arrested on a robbery warrant last June, and agreed to plead no contest on Aug. 16, records show.