ROHNERT PARK, California — A 63-year-old man who terrorized bank tellers across the Bay Area with robbery threats and a knife has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
James Michael Garrison was sentenced Thursday, June 4, by U.S. District Judge Rita Lin after pleading guilty to three counts of robbery and one count of carjacking. He will also serve three years of supervised release after he gets out.
The case spans just one month — but packed in three robberies, a carjacking, and a foot chase through San Francisco.
It Started at a Rohnert Park Bank
On Dec. 5, 2024, Garrison walked into a WestAmerica Bank at 300 Rohnert Park Expressway and approached a teller.
“Come on, do you want me to shoot you?” he told her, according to federal court records.
He walked out with $13,000.
He Hit San Francisco Next
Three weeks later, on Dec. 27, Garrison targeted a Wells Fargo on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco.
This time he was armed with a knife and again threatened to kill people inside the bank.
He escaped — but with only $200.
Then He Came Back to Rohnert Park
On Jan. 2, 2025 — just days after the San Francisco robbery — Garrison returned to the same WestAmerica Bank in Rohnert Park.
He threatened staff again and fled with $6,000.
In one month, he had robbed three banks and walked away with nearly $19,200 total.
A Knife, a Rideshare, and an Arrest
One day after the third robbery, San Francisco police spotted Garrison in the Tenderloin District and gave chase.
He jumped into a rideshare vehicle on Geary Street, pulled out a knife shaped like a gun, and ordered the driver to go.
They barely moved a few feet before officers caught up and arrested him.
He had been free for less than 24 hours after his last robbery.
A Life Shaped by Addiction and Prison
In arguing for a lighter sentence, Garrison’s defense attorney painted a picture of a man trapped in a cycle he never had the tools to break.
Garrison had been arrested repeatedly since he was 10 years old and had spent long stretches of his life battling drug addiction and cycling in and out of incarceration.
“He has served repeated lengthy sentences but he has never been provided a structured release plan that addresses his needs and puts him on the right path,” his attorney wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “It makes little sense to repeat the same approach again here.”
The judge sentenced him to seven years — a significant term, though federal prosecutors had pushed for more.
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