MERIDEN — A woman was sentenced to five years in prison this week after she pleaded guilty to robbing a grocery store in 2018.

Keishla Garcia-Hernandez, 30, of 148 Hobart St., pleaded guilty in January 2020 to first-degree assault and first-degree robbery. She was sentenced on Wednesday to 15 years, suspended after five years in prison, followed by five years’ probation. 

Angel Rodriguez, 51, of 148 Hobart St., Meriden, was arrested in the same incident on charges including first-degree robbery, first-degree assault and carrying a dangerous weapon. Rodriguez, who has not entered a plea, is held on $200,000 bond. His case is currently on the trial list. 

Police responded to Tachuelas Grocery Store, 251 W. Main St. around 6:50 p.m. on July 24, 2018 and found a mother and daughter, ages 60 and 29, outside the store with stab wounds, police said at the time of the incident. 

The daughter had a wound to her arm that was serious, but not life threatening, and the mother had a serious injury to her face. 

Security video showed a man and woman, later identified as Rodriguez and Garcia-Hernandez, enter the store and approach the mother and daughter brandishing a knife and firearm. 

Rodriguez walked behind the counter while pointing the gun at one of the women. When he attempted to take the cash register one of the women fought back and Garcia-Hernandez attempted to stab her, according to a police report.

Rodriguez and Garcia-Hernandez fled before police arrived. Police obtained descriptions of the suspects and an SUV, a gold Jeep with a black hood, the report said. A Meriden detective, in Hartford on an unrelated matter, recognized the descriptions of the suspects and recalled the SUV parked on Broad Street in Hartford.

Police went to Broad Street and found Rodriguez and Garcia-Hernandez, who were wearing the same clothing as seen in security video, the report said. They were taken into custody with assistance from Hartford police, McKay said. Authorities seized a knife, BB gun and $247. 

lsellew@record-journal.com203-317-2225Twitter: @LaurenSellewRJ