Dos Palos man sentenced to 16 years in prison for robbery

A Dos Palos man received a 16-year prison sentence Tuesday for a 2014 robbery in which Merced police officers shot and killed his accomplice, the Merced County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.

Nathan D. Jones, 25, pleaded no contest to a felony count of robbery, and admitted using a firearm during the incident and having a prior felony strike on his record, also for robbery, Deputy District Attorney Matthew Serratto said.

He entered his plea Tuesday afternoon before Judge Ronald W. Hansen in Merced Superior Court.

Jones and Kandice M. Honiker, 27, robbed a man at gunpoint on April 26 at West 11th Street and Martin Luther King Way, taking less than $100. A few hours later, police said, the pair robbed another man outside a West Main Street bar in Merced.

Officers spotted Jones and Honiker in a vehicle a short time after the second robbery. Honiker, the driver, accelerated when police tried to stop them. A high-speed chase through Merced ended when the silver Ford Mustang crashed into a curb in the 1900 block of V Street, police said.

Jones stayed in the car and was arrested, but Honiker ran through several backyards before officers cornered her in an alley. Honiker then pointed a loaded 9 mm semi-automatic Beretta at one of the officers, police said. Two officers opened fire, killing Honiker, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office.

Both officers were cleared in the shooting, which prosecutors determined was justified.

Jones previously served two years in prison in California after being convicted in another robbery case in 2011, according to court records.

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Dos Palos man sentenced to 16 years in prison for robbery."