Man sentenced in Battle Ground robbery

A Vancouver man who robbed a man of his backpack in Battle Ground was sentenced Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court to more than 1½ years in prison.

Brandon Osorio, 18, pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery stemming from the June 18 incident. He originally faced first-degree robbery, but the prosecution agreed to downgrade the charge in exchange for his guilty plea.

According to a probable cause affidavit, police responded to a reported disturbance in the 500 block of Southwest 12th Street about 6:45 p.m. Upon arrival, officers found a 24-year-old man who said he’d been “jumped” by three males, whom he didn’t know. He said they tried to take his backpack as he was walking to his car.

When they were unsuccessful, the assailants pushed him down and began stomping on his head and arms to wrest his backpack from his grip, he said. The trio fled when the man started screaming for help, the affidavit said.

A co-defendant in the case, William J. Eggert, 16, told police that he and Osorio had been discussing ways to get money. They then encountered a third male on the street, and talked about beating somebody up and taking his things, court records said.

Eggert told police that they attacked the victim because he was carrying a “big backpack,” according to the affidavit.

The third suspect had not yet been arrested at the time that the police report was taken.

During his hearing, the prosecution recommended that Osorio serve a total of 20 months in prison, with credit for 55 days in custody.

His defense attorney, Bob Yoseph, declined to add anything further.

Judge David Gregerson asked Osorio if he was 18.

“This is a tough way to start out in the adult world, don’t you think?” he asked the teen, who agreed.

Gregerson agreed to follow the recommendation and ordered Osorio not to have contact with the victim.