Man receives 140 years for series of carjackings

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by Lisa Halverstadt - The Arizona Republic

A man responsible for a handful of carjackings in Arizona, most of them in Surprise and Sun City, has been sentenced to 140 years in prison.

Raul Eduardo Gonzalez, 34, was on probation after a criminal trespassing charge in Nevada when he became linked to nine carjackings in Surprise, Sun City, Flagstaff and Williams, Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies said in August 2006.

Gonzalez, an undocumented immigrant scheduled to be deported in early 2006, eventually returned to Nevada.

He was arrested in Las Vegas on Aug. 9, 2006 after authorities said he robbed a Marshall's department store and fired at police more than a dozen times.

Shot in the heel by a police officer, Gonzalez then allegedly held a woman hostage and placed a gun to her head before officers tackled him, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesman said.

He was arrested there on 12 charges including attempted murder and burglary with a firearm.

This April, Gonzalez pleaded guilty to seven counts of armed robbery in Maricopa County, according to a release from the County Attorney's Office. He was sentenced last Friday.

"This repeat offender placed countless lives in danger during his crime spree," Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said. "He will now spend the rest of his life in prison."

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