San Diego
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A man who held police at bay at the Harbor Island Travelodge hotel during the longest SWAT team operation in San Diego history pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of kidnapping with the use of a firearm.
Randy Joe Dolph, 18, made his plea before Municipal Judge Charles L. Patrick, who said that Dolph faces a maximum sentence of 13 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 27.
Dolph escaped from the “equivalent of a foster home” in Colorado several days prior to taking a hostage at the hotel, according to his attorney, public defender Marian Modrak.
During the 34-hour standoff, which ended the morning of Aug. 23, Dolph held hostage Donald Evans, a 56-year-old night watchman from El Cajon.
In the plea bargain agreement negotiated Thursday, charges of false imprisonment, receiving stolen property and possession of a firearm were dropped, according Deputy Dist. Atty. David A. Stutz.
Modrak said she will ask the judge in the case to sentence Dolph to the California Youth Authority.
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