Dorian Coon sentenced to 7 years in prison for Subway robbery

Defendant Dorian Michael Coon, age 21, formerly of Willits and Lakeport, was sentenced Tuesday morning in the Mendocino County Superior Court to 84 months in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.



The defendant was convicted by plea on January 3rd of two felony counts of robbery in the second degree, these crimes having been committed approximately two weeks before Christmas 2018 inside the Subway sandwich shop in Ukiah.

The defendant also admitted as true two sentencing enhancements that he personally used a dangerous weapon (pellet gun) in the commission of the robberies.

Because he stands convicted of crimes characterized as “violent” in the Penal Code, any credits defendant Coon may attempt to earn in prison towards early release shall be limited to no more than 15 percent of his overall sentence, meaning no more than 18 months. These convictions also constitute a Strike offense for future use, within the meaning of the modified Three Strikes law.

As additional background, as reported in the Ukiah Daily Journal, on December 12, 2018 at around 7:15 o’clock at night Ukiah police officers got a report of shots fired at the Subway at 130 N. Orchard Ave. When they arrived, officers found 21-year-old Dorian Michael Coon with multiple gunshot wounds in front of Ross Dress for Less. He was flown to an out-of-county hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

Eye-witnesses told police Coon had just robbed the Subway with a gun. Police said they also learned that during the robbery, an armed customer inside of Subway with a valid concealed carry weapons permit shot his gun in fear for his safety and the safety of other citizens.

During the follow-up investigation, investigators learned that Coon used a "realistic-looking pellet handgun in the commission of the crimes," the DA said.

A co-defendant, Alexander Donovan Romero, age 20, of Willits, was earlier convicted of being an accessory to robbery, a felony.  Defendant Romero was placed on 36 months of supervised formal probation. One term of that probation was that defendant Romero serve 180 days in the county jail, a sentence that he has since completed.

The investigating law enforcement agencies that collected the evidence necessary to sustain the defendant’s convictions were the Ukiah Police Department and the District Attorney’s own investigators.

Assistant District Attorney Dale P. Trigg is the attorney who has been personally handling the prosecution of defendant Coon. Mr. Trigg has also interacting with the robbery victims (who appeared and spoke at today’s sentencing as to the impact they suffered as a result of the defendant’s criminal actions).

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder presided over the Tuesday morning hearing.