2 TEEN CARJACKERS GIVEN PRISON TERMS.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - Two carjackers who crashed their stolen vehicle only to be arrested by a retired LAPD officer when they asked him for help were sentenced Thursday in North Valley Superior Court.

Gilbert Dominguez of Quartz Hill, the 17-year-old gunman, received 13 years in prison and was ordered to pay $2,600 to the victim restitution fund, officials said.

Carlos Anguiano of Los Angeles, 19, was sentenced to six years in prison and was ordered to pay $1,200 to the victim restitution fund, officials said.

Both sentences were part of a plea bargain in which Dominguez and Anguiano agreed to plead no contest to one count of carjacking and one count of attempted carjacking, said Deputy District Attorney Garrett Worchell.

Dominguez was tried as an adult under a new state law that requires juveniles with criminal records to be sent to adult court for felonies involving firearms, said Deputy Max Godinez of the Santa Clarita sheriff's station.

Godinez added that he hoped the lengthy prison sentences would send a message to criminals eyeing Santa Clarita as an easy target zone.

``We'll take the strongest possible action and pursue these cases as long as necessary to make sure they get the maximum amount of time possible,'' Godinez said.

Dominguez had a long history of misdemeanor and felony juvenile offenses before being tried and convicted as an adult, the deputy added.

Anguiano also had a juvenile criminal record, though not as lengthy, he said.

The men were arrested Aug. 4 at the Acton home of a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer who had held them at gunpoint until Palmdale sheriff's deputies arrived, officials said.

The retired officer had heard about the carjacking earlier that evening and became suspicious when the men asked to use his phone, claiming they had wrecked their motorcycle, Worchell said.

``They waited outside while the officer called 911 to get a description of the suspects,'' the prosecutor said. ``Then the officer came out with his own gun, told them to get on the ground and held them there until the deputies arrived.''

At about 7:30 that evening, the men had attempted to carjack a 23-year- old Newhall man in the parking lot of Stater Brothers grocery store at Via Princessa and Sierra Highway in Canyon Country, officials said.

After stopping the man and asking directions to the Antelope Valley Freeway, Dominguez pointed a handgun at the victim and demanded his Ford Mustang, officials said. However, the victim immediately sped away and called the Sheriff's Department.

Dominguez and Anguiano then crossed Via Princessa to the Texaco Starmart, pointed the handgun at a 49-year-old Canyon Country woman waiting in the Del Taco drive-through, and ordered her to get out of her Ford Explorer, officials said.

The terrified victim immediately complied and the men fled in her sport-utility vehicle, Godinez said.

Minutes later, a California Highway Patrol officer spotted the men heading north on the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway in the victim's SUV, and followed the men to Rocky Ford Road, where they began to drive erratically, officials said.

The hapless carjackers crashed the vehicle, fled into the surrounding woods, and ultimately turned up at the retired officer's home, officials said.

Godinez said be believes the men were passing through the area on their way to Palmdale and were looking for transportation. He added that they probably had arrived in Santa Clarita at a nearby Metrolink station.