LAKE COUNTY ? John Alan Gillies, 43, was found guilty Thursday of kidnapping a Clearlake Oaks man while stealing his car in the early morning hours of November 6, 2006 and then robbing Twin Pines Casino of $23,500 at gunpoint.
Gillies was arrested in December 2007 on a warrant obtained by the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control (BGC) after a 13-month investigation by the agency. The three felony charges against Gillies included kidnapping in the course of a carjacking, carjacking and robbery.
“Even if he had just kidnapped and carjacked the victim and then drove off and went home, he”s still guilty of kidnapping and carjacking. But he went on and did another crime, so I”m going to request that the sentences run consecutively. The judge could disagree and run the sentences concurrently, which would drastically reduce his time,” Deputy District Attorney John Langan said.
Gillies faces a maximum of 33 years to life in prison, and is due back in court June 23 for sentencing.
Clearlake Oaks resident Patrick Brown was washing his truck at a car wash in Middletown while en route to Guerneville when Gillies walked up to him wearing a black, cloth mask and pointing a gun at him, according to Langan. Gillies forced Brown to drive him south Highway 29 in the direction of the casino, until he ordered Brown out of the car on a small side road approximately 100 yards away from the casino parking lot.
“At 4:30 a.m. in November, it was pitch black. His (Brown”s) panic level was rising and he was thinking, is he going to kill me at end of this road?” Langan said, referring to Brown”s testimony during the trial.
Inside the casino, Gillies went to the cash cage and demanded money at gunpoint. When he came out and got back into Brown”s truck, Brown was sitting nearby in the vehicle of a passer-by who had picked him up and spotted the truck at the casino, according to Langan.
“Gillies, only a few feet away, pulls the mask off thinking he”s only being chased by the casino security. The Good Samaritan (who picked up Brown) banged on the side of truck”s window was able to see the suspect”s face,” Langan said.
The driver was later able to describe Gillies to authorities, pick him out of a photo lineup and identify him in court, according to Langan. In addition, the California Department of Justice found Gillies” DNA on the inside of the mask Gillies wore during the robbery.
The BGC began to investigate Gillies as a suspect in the robbery after he was arrested in Colusa on April 16, 2007, according to a BGC press release. Gillies was pulled over by the Colusa County Sheriff”s Department while he was allegedly on his way to rob the Colusa Casino Resort. Gillies faces charges in Colusa County in connection with that robbery, according to Langan.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com
