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Teens face life in brutal attack
Pizza driver kidnapped
By ROBIN FITZGERALD
rfitzgerald@sunherald.com
GULFPORT - A pizza delivery driver who was assaulted and robbed Monday night called 911 but lost consciousness before police found him locked in his trunk.
Three Gulfport teenagers taken into custody on felony charges were held on $1 million bond each pending a court appearance. Kidnapping, the most serious of the four felonies, has a penalty of up to life in prison.
Police are prepared to upgrade the charges to capital murder if the driver doesn't survive, said Police Chief Steve Barnes. The driver, found about a dozen blocks from where he was kidnapped, was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday.
"He was severely beaten and stuffed in his trunk," said Barnes.
The suspects are Damaro Markeith Robertson, 13, of 49th Avenue, Joshua M. Hayes, 15, of 19t
h Avenue, and Robert Sylvester
Smith Jr., 17, of 34th Avenue. They are charged as adults.
Police arrested the teens on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping, motor vehicle theft and simple robbery. They were held at the Harrison County Adult Detention Facility on bonds set by Justice Court Judge Bruce Roberts.
Youths age 13 to 17 can be charged as an adult if accused of a crime penalized by life in prison or death or a crime involving the use of a deadly weapon.
It is not uncommon for a 15-year-old to be charged as an adult, but it is rare for a 13-year-old, said Charlie Wood, an assistant district attorney.
Investigators are considering the possible involvement of a fourth person, according to Barnes.
The driver, whose name was withheld, was making a delivery around 10 p.m. Monday in the 1800 block of 18th Avenue. His attackers robbed him, locked him in his trunk and drove away in his vehicle.
"He managed to call a 911 dispatcher from his cell phone," Barnes said. &quo
t;Th
e di
spatcher lost contact with him, but we kne
w he was in his own vehicle."
About 20 minutes later, police found the car abandoned near Edgewater Manor on 39th Avenue. The area is north of 28th Street.
"We went through the back seat of the car and confirmed he was in the trunk," Barnes said.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/13597465.htm
Teens face life in brutal attack
Pizza driver kidnapped
By ROBIN FITZGERALD
rfitzgerald@sunherald.com
GULFPORT - A pizza delivery driver who was assaulted and robbed Monday night called 911 but lost consciousness before police found him locked in his trunk.
Three Gulfport teenagers taken into custody on felony charges were held on $1 million bond each pending a court appearance. Kidnapping, the most serious of the four felonies, has a penalty of up to life in prison.
Police are prepared to upgrade the charges to capital murder if the driver doesn't survive, said Police Chief Steve Barnes. The driver, found about a dozen blocks from where he was kidnapped, was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday.
"He was severely beaten and stuffed in his trunk," said Barnes.
The suspects are Damaro Markeith Robertson, 13, of 49th Avenue, Joshua M. Hayes, 15, of 19t
h Avenue, and Robert Sylvester
Smith Jr., 17, of 34th Avenue. They are charged as adults.
Police arrested the teens on charges of aggravated assault, kidnapping, motor vehicle theft and simple robbery. They were held at the Harrison County Adult Detention Facility on bonds set by Justice Court Judge Bruce Roberts.
Youths age 13 to 17 can be charged as an adult if accused of a crime penalized by life in prison or death or a crime involving the use of a deadly weapon.
It is not uncommon for a 15-year-old to be charged as an adult, but it is rare for a 13-year-old, said Charlie Wood, an assistant district attorney.
Investigators are considering the possible involvement of a fourth person, according to Barnes.
The driver, whose name was withheld, was making a delivery around 10 p.m. Monday in the 1800 block of 18th Avenue. His attackers robbed him, locked him in his trunk and drove away in his vehicle.
"He managed to call a 911 dispatcher from his cell phone," Barnes said. &quo
t;Th
e di
spatcher lost contact with him, but we kne
w he was in his own vehicle."
About 20 minutes later, police found the car abandoned near Edgewater Manor on 39th Avenue. The area is north of 28th Street.
"We went through the back seat of the car and confirmed he was in the trunk," Barnes said.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/13597465.htm