Los Gatos woman injured during mugging at birthday party

A San Rafael man was sentenced to prison for knocking an 81-year-old Los Gatos woman to the pavement during a robbery attempt outside her granddaughter’s birthday party.

The woman was attending the party on Sept. 8 at Country Club Bowl in San Rafael. When she went to her car to get a sweater, she was accosted by Camilo Abel Arias Marroquin, 26.

As he tried to grab her purse, she struggled with him and fell backward down a flight of stairs. She suffered injuries including a large bruise to her head.

Arias Marroquin fled without the purse. Police were able to identify him as the suspect through video surveillance footage and witness interviews.

Arias Marroquin eventually accepted a plea offer, admitting to an elder abuse charge and accepting a prison term of three years and eight months. The prosecution agreed to dismiss a charge of attempted robbery.

The sentence includes time for violating his probation terms in a 2017 domestic violence conviction.

Arias Marroquin was sentenced Thursday by Judge Geoffrey Howard in Marin County Superior Court. The victim was present in the audience but did not speak.

The probation department, in a report for the sentencing, said Arias Marroquin committed the crime while intoxicated on alcohol and methamphetamine.

Arias Marroquin’s defense attorney, Roxane Mosley, said he “made a really poor decision.”

“He wants to get help,” Mosley told the judge. “He admitted to what happened. He is very sorry to the victim. He is very ashamed for what he did.”

Arias Marroquin’s prior criminal history includes an arrest in 2017 for trying to purchase sex in the Canal area. The sex worker was an undercover police officer in a human trafficking sting operation.