A 28-year-old man who held a motorist at gunpoint and forced the victim — accompanied by his young son — to drive him through San Jacinto was on probation Wednesday.
Branden Marquis Williamson of San Jacinto pleaded guilty in February to two counts of kidnapping and one count each of robbery and child endangerment, as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of using a firearm during a felony. The admissions followed a period of psychiatric treatment supervised by correctional health officials, according to court records.
During a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice Tuesday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Emma Smith suspended all prison time for the offenses and instead sentenced Williamson to three years’ mandatory supervision, as well as 20 hours of community service. There was a year-long jail sentence included in the judge’s order, but records indicated that may have involved only a “flash incarceration,” with Williamson checking in and being immediately released because of overcrowded conditions in the county’s jail system.
According to the sheriff’s department, about 7:40 a.m. April 20, 2023, the defendant confronted a man and his 7-year-old son outside a San Jacinto home, pointed a rifle at them and ordered the victim to drive him to a business district at South Sanderson Avenue and West Esplanade Avenue.
Sgt. Anthony Pelato said Williamson got out of the car at the location, and the man immediately called 911.
“The caller and child were unharmed during the incident,” the sergeant said.
Patrol deputies converged on the area, initiating a search that ended less than an hour later at Commonwealth and Lyon avenues in neighboring Hemet, where Williamson was taken into custody without incident, according to the sheriff’s spokesman.
He said despite a thorough search of the surrounding area, the rifle was not located.
Williamson had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.