Daly City man sentenced to 12 years in prison after assaulting, robbing Lyft driver

DALY CITY — A Daly City man who was convicted for a 2022 felony assault and robbery of a deaf Lyft driver was handed a 12-year prison sentence last week, according to San Mateo County prosecutors.

At 2:40 a.m. on Sept. 3 of last year, Daniel Balaguer, 29, was picked up in San Francisco by a Lyft rideshare vehicle driven by a deaf and mute person, prosecutors said. After being driven to Washington Street and Sullivan Avenue in Daly City, Balaguer took the driver’s backpack out of the vehicle and ran away.

The driver chased Balaguer to the nearby In-N-Out Burger parking lot, where the two struggled over the backpack. Prosecutors say Balaguer then grabbed the driver by the neck and strangled them to the point of unconsciousness.

Witnesses called police, who arrested Balaguer at the scene. In his own backpack, officers found cocaine, Xanax and several debit and ID cards belonging to other people.

In an October 2022 hearing, Balaguer pleaded not guilty to two felony charges: first-degree robbery and assault by means to cause bodily harm, as well as seven misdemeanors, including two counts of illegal drug possession and five counts of theft of identifying information.

Balaguer, who was convicted in August, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Friday after Judge Elizabeth Hill dismissed a motion to remove a previous “strike,” a 2020 firearm assault conviction, to be used as a sentencing enhancement. He’ll receive credit for 435 days, about one and one-fifth years, already served.