SANTA ANA – A homeless man who pistol-whipped a Santa Ana store owner with a pellet gun during a robbery was sentenced Friday to 21 years to life in prison.

Fernando Zazueta Gonzalez, a 61-year-old third-striker with previous burglary and robbery convictions, was arrested in March following a robbery at a beauty-supply business on West Third Street.

Gonzalez entered the business around 8:30 p.m., according to prosecutors, brandishing a black pellet gun that looked like a handgun.

He pistol-whipped the owner, dragged her into a back room, restrained her and held the gun against her head while demanding money, prosecutors said. He grabbed the owner’s iPhone from a front counter while fleeing.

Santa Ana officers used the Find My iPhone app to trace the phone to a tent in a homeless encampment in the Santa Ana Civic Center, where he was arrested.

A jury last month found Gonzalez guilty of second-degree robbery, kidnapping to commit robbery, assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, and attempted criminal threats with intent to terrorize.