Petaluma Man Sentenced in Robbery of Petaluma Business Owner

Defendant Jason Lloyd Bryson, 47 years old of Petaluma, was sentenced today by the Honorable Jennifer Dollard to 20 years in state prison after he was found guilty by a jury in July of this year of committing robbery and making criminal threats. 

The charges resulted from an incident in November 2017 where Bryson broke into a vehicle belonging to the owner of the “Glass Shop” in Petaluma. The owner observed the break-in over his business surveillance system and confronted Bryson who fled to his own vehicle.  There, the owner observed his personal belongings in the back of Bryson’s vehicle. As the owner tried to collect the belongings, Bryson threatened to kill him and physically resisted.  Bryson was ultimately able to flee the scene, but he was later captured in part because he dropped his phone during the altercation.

District Attorney Ravitch stated, “This defendant has a substantial criminal history including prior felony convictions from both California and Washington State. Luckily, the victim was not seriously injured and the defendant was quickly apprehended.” 

Following the jury trial, the court ruled that the defendant had suffered multiple prior convictions. The judge also noted that the sentence was what the law and justice required.   A new bill signed into law by Governor Gerald Brown earlier this week will give sentencing courts the discretion to drop certain enhancements for prior offenses and reduce sentences for even violent offenders. Although that law does not take effect until January, 2019, Judge Dollard noted that even if she currently had the authority to dismiss the sentencing enhancements she would not have done so in this case.  

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Ashley W Hendon, assisted by District Attorney Investigator Gregory Wojcik, and investigated by the Petaluma Police Department.