A man admitted Wednesday that he robbed four women at gunpoint and forced two of them to withdraw money from ATMs in the San Diego area.
Kha Sok, 34, faces 35 years and four months plus two life terms in prison, with sentencing set for Sept. 20, said Deputy District Attorney Lucy Yturralde.
Sok pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery and two counts of kidnapping for robbery, the prosecutor said.
Co-defendant David Vichit Tonn, 28, is scheduled to go on trial Thursday. He is charged with one count each of robbery and kidnapping for robbery.
The defendants were arrested Dec. 2 in connection with the weeklong spree of four holdups and abductions in central San Diego and the East County.
The crimes happened in the 5200 El Cajon Boulevard on Nov. 23; in the 4200 block of Chamoune Avenue and the 4400 block of El Cajon Boulevard, both on Nov. 27; and the 7100 block of Broadway in Lemon Grove on Nov. 30, according to investigators.
Tonn allegedly teamed with Sok for the final crime, in which a woman was kidnapped from a CVS store and forced to withdraw money from ATMs.
In the first two robberies, Sok stole a woman's purse, pushing the first victim to the ground and threatening the second with a silver pistol, Yturralde said.
During the third holdup, he knocked on a motorist's car window, displayed a handgun and got into the victim's vehicle, the prosecutor said. She was forced to drive to two banks, withdraw cash from ATMs and hand it over.
Sok also made the woman go to a liquor store and buy alcoholic beverages before having her drive him to the 4300 block of Highland Avenue, where he got out and fled on foot, Yturralde said.
In the fourth robbery, the victim was forced into her car and ordered to drive to multiple ATMs to get money, according to Yturralde. She was eventually dropped off near 54th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, the prosecutor said.
