A man who admitted his involvement in the six ‘Dum Dum’ bank heists – including a failed holdup near University Towne Centre in which an accomplice was shot – asked a judge Thursday to withdraw his guilty plea.
Robert Anthony Hodge, 29, pleaded guilty in January to six counts of robbery and was supposed to be sentenced to a maximum of 29 years in prison, but he told Judge Peter Deddeh that he did not want to keep his end of the deal.
The judge set a Sept. 17 hearing so that a new attorney can be appointed to look into Hodge’s motion.
Hodge was charged, along with Laura Elshire and Casey Allen Wilson, with holding up a Wells Fargo bank branch on June 11, 2013, near La Jolla Village Drive. Wilson was shot in the face and arm during the robbery after telling a clerk to hurry and repeating the demand before switching on an electric stun gun.
A security officer testified at an earlier hearing that he realized what was happening and told Elshire to lie down on the floor along with Wilson. Instead, Wilson began striding quickly toward the guard, prompting him to fire two shots. Wilson then ran out of the building and got into a waiting car driven by Hodge.
Elshire was arrested inside the bank and Wilson was dropped off at a hospital. Hodge was captured in Mexico.
Elshire, 43, pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Wilson, 28, pleaded guilty and received a five-year sentence.
San Diego police robbery Detective DeWayne Glazewski testified last year that Hodge confessed to his involvement in the “Dum Dum” robbery series, so named because one of the robbers took a jar of “Dum Dum” lollipops during one of the holdups.
Hodge told the detective that he held up a US Bank branch in El Cajon on Oct. 26, 2012, and said Wilson was the getaway driver. He also told the detective that he teamed up again with Wilson to rob a US Bank in Santee on Nov. 21, 2012.
Glazewski said Hodge confessed to robbing:
- a Wells Fargo bank on Del Mar Heights Road on Jan. 3, 2013,
- a Wells Fargo branch with Wilson near La Jolla Village on May 7, 2013, and
- a Wells Fargo bank in 4S Ranch on May 30, 2013, when he was joined by Wilson and another man.
