Santa Rosa man sentenced to 10 years for knife-wielding crime spree

(KRON) — A Santa Rosa man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on May 6 for attempting to carjack two elderly people while armed with a butcher’s knife and stabbing a third person at an ATM in a Santa Rosa shopping center in 2023.

The crime spree began when the culprit, 42-year-old Elijah Beck, attempted to carjack an elderly woman at knifepoint in a Safeway parking lot on Santa Rosa’s 4th Street, according to a statement issued by Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez’s office Monday.

“Beck threatened to kill an elderly woman who was sitting in her SUV,” the statement from the Sonoma County DA’s office reads. “Beck held a large butcher knife in his hand while ordering the victim to get out of her car and threatening to kill her.”

Beck continued to threaten the woman while reaching into her open driver’s side window and jabbing at her with the knife, the DA’s office said. The man then stabbed the woman’s tire and set his sights on another victim.

“The victim then watched in horror as Beck approached a gentleman who was conducting a transaction at the ATM machine in the same shopping center,” the DA’s office said. “Beck got very close to the man and pointed his knife at his chest.”

Beck lunged at the man’s chest with the knife. The man turned at the right moment, and the knife thrust into his arm instead of his chest, the DA’s office said. Beck then turned the knife on an elderly security guard who pulled up in a car and was approaching Beck with a baton.

“Beck was not intimidated by the guard,” the DA’s office said. “Instead, he went after the elderly guard with his knife. Several people, including the stabbing victim, grabbed shopping carts and other items to protect the guard from Beck.”

Spotting the guard’s keys in the ignition, Beck attempted to jump into the car and drive off. His plans were foiled when a team of bystanders joined the fray.

“While one man rammed a shopping cart in the open driver’s side door, the stabbing victim got into the back seat, found a laptop bag in the car, and used the strap to pin Beck’s head to the seat rest,” the DA’s office said. 

Beck wriggled out of the strap and exited the car with the knife in his hand when a Santa Rosa Police Department officer arrived at the scene and took Beck into custody at gunpoint. Beck was booked into the Sonoma County Jail and charged with two counts of attempted carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, elder abuse, and using a knife during the commission of the aforementioned crimes. 

A jury found Beck guilty of all charges after a two-week trial.

“The lengthy prison sentence in this case is completely warranted by the defendant’s erratically dangerous conduct,” Rodriguez said following Beck’s conviction. “The victims were vulnerable, and nobody could have predicted such a series of crimes would occur within the supermarket parking lot. Thankfully, multiple community members detained Mr. Beck before he could continue his rampage elsewhere. I hope the prison sentence helps provide some measure of closure to the victims.”