A St. Paul man with a violent criminal history has been sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in a daytime carjacking and armed robbery.

Oscar Zuniga (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Oscar Zuniga, 30, received his sentence in Ramsey County District Court on Monday after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree robbery in connection with the March 2 incident in the city’s Greater East Side neighborhood that ended when his accomplice crashed into another vehicle.

The length of the prison sentence was negotiated between the defense and prosecution as part of a November plea agreement, which also included an aiding and abetting first-degree carjacking charge being dismissed at sentencing. Zuniga had four prior convictions defined as crimes of violence under state statute, but the prosecution agreed to waive its request for an aggravated sentence as part of the plea deal.

According to the criminal complaints against Zuniga and his accomplice:

Officers responded to Rose Avenue west of White Bear Avenue about 1:30 p.m. March 2 on a report of a carjacking. A 34-year-old man reported that he picked up a friend and that two other men were with her — he knew one as Rico and the other only as Mouse.

Police identified Rico as Joesiah Ramon Wakon, 22, of St. Paul.

The man said that his driving had been erratic when he picked her up and that she convinced him to let her drive the Toyota Tundra, which was his father’s vehicle.

Mouse, later identified as Zuniga, pulled a handgun and said something like, “Don’t move — I’ll kill you. Empty out your pockets” and held the gun to the back of the man’s head. The man gave Mouse his wallet and phone, and exited the Tundra.

Mouse pointed the gun at his friend and yelled at her to drive away in the Tundra. Officers searching the area saw the vehicle and tried to pull it over at Arcade and East Seventh streets.

The Tundra stopped briefly near Margaret Street and a woman got out of the backseat. She later told police that the other woman, who was being forced to drive the truck, was giving her a ride when the robbery happened.

Meanwhile, Zuniga and Waukon told the driver not to stop for police, the complaints said.

Waukon then got into the driver’s seat and kept going. They let Mouse out along the way.

The woman with Waukon told him to stop for officers, but he said, “I can’t — I’m not going to jail,” according to the complaints.

Officers lost sight of the Tundra, but found it again at Fourth and Hancock streets and pursued, as the pickup went 65-70 mph and ran a red light on Earl Street at Minnehaha Avenue. He drove into oncoming traffic on Maryland Avenue.

As the Tundra approached the entrance ramp to Interstate 35E, the truck struck another car, spun out and lost two tires. Squads pinned in the Tundra and took Waukon into custody.

Joesiah Ramon Waukon (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

In June, Waukon pleaded guilty to auto theft and fleeing from police in a vehicle, while an aiding and abetting carjacking charge was dismissed as part of a plea deal. He was given a 15-month prison sentence and three years of probation in November.

In 2014, Zuniga was convicted of first-degree aggravated robbery and aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery for two separate incidents over two consecutive days in October 2013, court records show. He was convicted of simple robbery in 2022 and second-degree aggravated robbery in 2023.

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