OAKLAND — Tanom Domingue was tired of asking his father for money, he told police during a taped interview earlier this year, so he and four friends got in a car and cruised around the city looking for people to rob.

They found the Milano Ristorante on Grand Avenue, went inside with guns in their hands and stole roughly $200, Domingue told police. Split four ways, Domingue, then 16, walked away with $50.

On Thursday, that $50 cost Domingue, 18, of Oakland, just over five years in state prison as he was sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson on one count of robbery and one count of being armed with a weapon during the crime.

Domingue is the fourth of five defendants sentenced to prison and jail time for their role in a series of unconnected "takeover" robberies of restaurants, a coffee shop and a nail salon last year.

The robberies came as the city's crime rate was growing and frightened many residents as the crimes occurred in eateries during dinner.

Domingue told police that he needed money for new shoes and clothes.

"We weren't looking for a restaurant, we were looking for something to get some money. We drove past and we saw people inside," Domingue told police on a tape played during a preliminary hearing earlier this year. "It wasn't meant to harm nobody. I just needed some money (to purchase) clothes, shoes. Most of my stuff was too small for me."

Had he known the crime would net

Domingue was originally charged with six counts of robbery and three counts of false imprisonment and faced about 21 years in prison. Under a plea deal, he admitted to one count of robbery, while the other eight charges against him were dropped.

It remained unclear Thursday why the Alameda County District Attorney's Office dropped the other charges.

And although Domingue claimed earlier this year that he simply acted as the lookout during the crime, he was sentenced Thursday on an enhancement charge of being armed during the robbery.

The last remaining suspect in last year's restaurant robberies, Laron Williams, is scheduled to be sentenced next week. Williams, 19, of Oakland, will be sentenced on charges that he robbed a Red Boy Pizza on Leimert Boulevard and the Happy Garden Restaurant on MacArthur Boulevard.

In June, three other defendants were sent to prison and jail for their roles in five robberies.