REDWOOD CITY — A 20-year-old Redwood City man pleaded no contest Tuesday to assault with a deadly weapon for driving into a crowd of people while pursuing the vehicle that hit his car last year, prosecutors said.
Brian Barbata Jimaroa also admitted to an enhancement for causing great bodily injury and to two allegations of a serious and violent felony, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. He was sentenced to 364 days in county jail – for which he was credited for time already served – and three years supervised probation.
The plea deal comes nearly a year after Barbata Jimaroa disregarded the directions of a 911 operator to stop pursuing a vehicle who collided with his car, chasing the driver around Redwood City and blowing through traffic signals at excessive speeds before driving into a crowd of people, two of whom were severely injured.
The case was overseen by San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Sean P. Dabel. The case resolution was reached during a planned pretrial conference.
Barbata Jimaroa will also be required to permanently forfeit his driver’s license, prosecutors said.
San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said that his office did not seek a heavier sentence in this case because of the willingness and ability of the two victims to participate in the prosecution, but that he is satisfied with the sentence given the circumstances.
The deal did include two components his prosecutor was pushing for, he added: that this will count as a strike if Barbata Jimaroa is convicted of any future crimes, and that he plead to assault with a deadly weapon, which led to the revocation of his driver’s license.
“That’s a lot of his life left, and he won’t be able to have a driver’s license. It’s a lot of Waymos and Ubers,” Wagstaffe said. “Public transit is his life going forward. My prosecutor knew it would be the middle ground.”
George Waraich, Barbata Jimaroa’s defense attorney, did not respond to a request for comment.
Around 10 p.m. on March 1, 2025, Barbata Jimaroa was traveling in a red Mercedes when his vehicle was struck by a Jeep, prosecutors said. The collision did not cause any injuries but did cause damage to Barbata Jimaroa’s vehicle.
The Jeep fled the scene and Barbata Jimaroa called 911 and began pursuing the car, prosecutors said. The 911 dispatcher instructed Barbata Jimaroa to cease his pursuit of the Jeep but he continued to follow it around the city.
Meanwhile, the driver of the Jeep called some friends, who met up at the intersection of Vera and King streets. Barbata Jimaroa drove his vehicle into the crowd of people, striking two victims who had no part in the conflict.
The two victims, identified as an 18-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman, were taken to Stanford with serious injuries, prosecutors said.
The 18-year-old suffered a a hemorrhage above his eye, a subdural hemorrhage and a fractured bone in the region that connects the head to the spine, Wagstaffe said. The 65-year-old suffered a spleen laceration, he added.
Barbata Jimaroa then fled the scene where he had struck the two individuals, prosecutors said. He flagged down a responding police officer and first denied but later admitted to striking the pedestrians.
Prosecutors added that Barbata Jimaroa attributed his decision to leave the scene to “fear of the crowd.”
Barbata Jimaroa, who was released from custody Tuesday, will next appear in court April 6 for a restitution hearing.