Five years in state prison were handed down Sept. 28 to a young woman who robbed a Pacific Beach resident and stole a police patrol car, which she drove it into the water off Fiesta Island.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Polly Shamoon ordered Stephanie Nicole Majsterski, 26, to pay $974 to a San Diego Police officer whom she injured on Fiesta Island while trying to arrest her.
Shamoon also ordered Majsterski to pay $393 to a woman for damages to her computers and phone which were taken during a home invasion robbery on Dec. 14, 2017.
Shamoon gave Majsterski credit for already serving 331 days in jail. Deputy District Attorney Lucille Yturralde asked for a 7-year, eight month sentence.
Her attorney, Steve Hoffman, asked for probation, and blamed the incidents on her boyfriend, James Lee Graham, 41, who is in jail awaiting trial on Dec. 4.
Hoffman alluded to Graham’s criminal history, which included a 10-year prison term he received in 2008 for 10 robberies.
Yturralde said police have not submitted a claim for damages to the patrol car. The judge can later add more restitution.
Majsterski had been a college student, but dropped out after meeting Graham. She had been drinking alcohol and using methamphetamine, said the prosecutor.
Majsterski pleaded guilty Aug. 28 to robbery, false imprisonment, burglary, auto theft, resisting an executive officer, and resisting arrest.
The false imprisonment, burglary, and robbery charges involved holding up Caroline Souza in her own home. Majsterski and Graham apparently entered through an unlocked door at 9:10 p.m. Police officers answered a 911 call, and they quickly spotted Graham. One of them left the car engine running, but thought he had left the door locked. After they chased after Graham, Majsterski got inside the police car and drove it away.
Majsterski drove the police car into the water, and then fled the vehicle as the water circled the vehicle. She attempted to hide in the sand when she saw officers approaching, as the car had a tracking device to show its location.
She was covered with sand and soaking wet as she fiercely struggled with officers who were trying to handcuff and arrest her. She injured officer Brian Kashouti, who testified she was “thrashing her body back and forth.” He went to a hospital afterwards for a hand injury. Two detectives found the stolen laptops and computers in a gully in a bag that contained Majsterski’s identification.
As a third strike defendant, Graham faces 63 years to life in prison if he’s convicted. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail on $600,000 bail.
