'Chrome Revolver Bandit' to Stand Trial on Robbery Charges

Editor's Note: The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office has not released Ricky Sanders' booking photo. 

A man accused of committing dozens of robberies in the Bay Area using a chrome revolver, including a robbery and shooting at a PetSmart in San Mateo in 2011, was held to answer on 37 charges in San Mateo County Superior Court on Friday.

Ricky Renee Sanders, 35, was nicknamed the "chrome revolver bandit" because of the silver-barreled revolver he allegedly used in as many as 30 armed robberies or attempted robberies at retail businesses in several Bay Area cities, according to the district attorney's office.

In the most serious case, Sanders is accused of shooting a store clerk in the leg while robbing a PetSmart store in San Mateo on Oct. 8, 2011, prosecutors said.

The victim suffered a severed femoral artery but survived the shooting.

Sanders is also suspected of robbing a BevMo in Colma, a GameStop in Colma, and various businesses in San Francisco, San Jose, Daly City, Redwood City and Fremont, prosecutors said.

Following a three-day preliminary hearing, Judge Clifford Cretan on Friday held Sanders to answer on all charges and set his superior court arraignment for Jan. 8.

Last February, Sanders pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of robbery with a firearm, five counts of attempted robbery, six counts of assault with a firearm, nine counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of mayhem.

Sanders, an Oakland resident, was arrested Nov. 7, 2011, after allegedly committing a robbery in San Jose, where proseuctors say he left a fingerprint. He remains in custody without bail.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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