Two teens who left school on their lunch hour Monday and carried out a plan to rob an Edenville service station pleaded guilty Friday in a deal that will keep their cases in the probate court.
The 16-year-old boys, who are not being named because they were charged as juveniles, both appeared for hearings before Midland County Probate Judge Dorene S. Allen on Friday morning.
The teen who acted as the get away driver was charged with armed robbery, and is being represented by attorney John Wilson of Midland; the teen who entered Vincent’s Service Station while wearing a ski mask and armed with a baseball bat, and then demanded cash, was charged with armed robbery and conspiracy. He is being represented by attorney Lee Burton of Midland.
Allen carefully explained to each the rights they would be giving up by entering into the plea deals in their cases, including the right to a trial by judge or jury, to be presumed innocent, to confront the witnesses in the cases, to testify or to remain silent and not have that silence used against them, as well as what various probate court terms mean. “A plea means you’re going to admit the facts in the petition,” she told the teen who acted as the driver. “As a result of that, you won’t have a trial of any kind.”
Each teen — dressed in blue jumpsuits from the Midland County Juvenile Care Center, their hands cuffed to brown leather belts around their waists — sat listening, flanked by their attorneys and parents.
Each teen was sworn in and expected to tell what occurred, as well as answer questions posed by Midland County Assistant Prosecutor Linda Weiss and their own attorneys.
The driver said he was approached by the codefendant at school on Monday morning, who told him about the plan. “I said no several times ... I finally gave in to the peer pressure.”
The teen who entered the store said he brought the ski mask with him to school that day, “to cover my face for what was gonna happen later ... I was thinking about stopping by Vincent’s and getting money. Robbing it,” he said.
The pair left the school on lunch hour, went to the McDonald’s down M-30 from the school, then made the quick drive north to Vincent’s.
They parked the truck outside the next door business, the Edenville Market, about 11:15 a.m.
“I put on the ski mask and grabbed the McDonald’s bag,” the robber said, walked through the back alley and entered the store where the owner asked if the teen needed help. “I said I want the money. He said “Are you sure, we don’t have that much money.’” The teen replied he was indeed sure, and the owner handed over the contents of the till — $394 according to the teens, just over $400 according to the Midland County Sheriff’s Office.
Both boys went back to school, where the teen who carried out the robbery carried the stack of bills in his pocket, eventually giving roughly half to the driver.
A sheriff’s office detective and sergeant had tracked the culprits down at the school and pulled them out of class before the end of that school day, and at 3:35 p.m. Allen issued a verbal placement order for the pair to be held at the JCC.
At the Friday hearing, Weiss said both had satisfied their plea agreements with the prosecutor’s office, which called for them to plea guilty as charged in exchange for the cases not being waived to adult court.
Allen pointed out to the teen who drove to the service station that it was important that he said peer pressure when giving his rendition of his actions, and asked if it was indeed his choice.
“Yes ma’am,” he answered, affirming he acted of his own decision.
She accepted the plea each teen made, and remanded them to the JCC pending psychological and other testing, until the disposition in the cases. Disposition is the juvenile court equivalent of a sentencing in adult court.
Wilson also tendered to Weiss a letter of apology written by the driver to the store owner.
Copyright 2013 Midland Daily News - Midland, Michigan. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.[1]
References
- ^ Copyright 2013 Midland Daily News - Midland, Michigan. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (www.ourmidland.com)
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