Man gets 27 years for assaulting woman, 63, during home invasion robbery

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A man who pistol-whipped a 63-year-old woman during a home invasion robbery in Ridgecrest was sentenced Thursday to 27 years in prison.

James Andrew Doster, 43, terrified the victim when he burst into her home and grabbed her as she tried to flee.

“The circumstances of this case are pretty much the nightmare of any resident,” Assistant District Attorney Joseph Kinzel said.

At about 1:20 a.m. on Sept. 15, Doster broke into the woman’s home and kicked open her bedroom door. She tried to get away, but Doster caught her, hit her in the head with a gun and fired a shot before forcing her back inside.

He took her cellphone, not realizing she’d called a relative who heard her screaming and alerted authorities, prosecutors said.

Police detained Doster a few blocks from the home and the victim identified him as the robber.

The gun and some items of clothing he’d worn were found hidden nearby, prosecutors said. DNA analysis established a link between him and the items.

Judge David Zulfa agreed with Kinzel that this was a “nightmare scenario.”

“An elderly woman, living alone, of meager means, has her door kicked open in the middle of the night,” he said. “An intruder with a firearm enters, literally shattering her world.”

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