Showing posts with label armed robbery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label armed robbery. Show all posts

Monday, May 12, 2014

Florida Army veteran of 20 years killed by robbers

Veteran dead after confronting car thieves
WTSP
Sarah Hagen
May 12, 2014

St. Petersburg, Florida -- A veteran who served 20 years in the Army was killed not on the battlefield, but in the driveway of his own home as police say he tried to stop two people from stealing his car.

On Thursday, police say somebody broke into 53-year-old Floyd Lassiter's home, stealing numerous things, including his car keys. On Saturday morning, two people then tried to steal his car.

It's hard for Larry Casto to hold back the tears when talking about Lassiter, who was his employee at Crown Eurocars. He learned just hours ago that Lassiter was tragically killed.

"Something like this you read about and wonder why someone so good loses his life," said Casto.

Police say Lassiter, a man who loved his family, friends, and the game of football, died after being shot multiple times after confronting two people trying to steal his car early Saturday morning.
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Saturday, May 3, 2014

Vietnam vet fatally gunned down over TV

Former Birmingham firefighter, Vietnam vet fatally gunned down over TV
AL.com
By Carol Robinson
May 02, 2014

HUEYTOWN, Alabama - A retired Birmingham firefighter and two-tour Vietnam Veteran was fatally gunned down during a break-in at his Hueytown home earlier this month.

Authorities today are expected to announce charges against two men in the April 23 slaying of 66-year-old Howard Arthur McKee. Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler will be joined by the Birmingham police, U.S. Marshals and FBI at a press conference scheduled for noon. Both men are in custody.
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Saturday, January 18, 2014

Marine shot at after armored truck heist, chasing robbers

Former Marine gives chase to armed bandits, nearly hit in gunfire
Brian Cotts bravely chased after the armed bandits after they held up an armored truck outside a Checkers restaurant in Maryland on Thursday. The suspects opened fire, hitting Cotts' truck, but the good Samaritan suffered only minor injuries during the wild ordeal. Cops soon joined the pursuit and cuffed the suspects.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY JOE KEMP
FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2014
NBC4 WASHINGTON
Cotts was not hit by any bullets, but was cut from the shattered glass in his windshield.

A former Marine was nearly killed when a pack of bandits opened fire on him during a wild chase after an armored truck heist in Maryland.

But Brian Cotts claimed it was the only way he knew to help.

“I’m still in a daze,” Brian Cotts told NBC News. “I’m really, really proud of myself because I saved a life.”

Cotts said that he was sitting in his red pickup truck with a passenger when he saw four men hold up a Garda truck outside a Checkers restaurant in Suitland about 11 a.m. on Thursday.
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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Vietnam Veteran died trying to stop bank robbery at 80 in Reno

Marine who tried to stop bank robbery honored posthumously in Reno
(watch video)
RCJ.com
Written by Emerson Marcus
Jan. 15, 2014

A lot has been said about Charles Sperry’s Marine service.

The 80-year-old man killed trying to stop a bank robbery in Reno last October served 26 years as a Marine.

Once he left the Corps, though, he served his community.

That service was honored when Reno police Chief Steve Pitts presented Sperry’s widow and son the Chief’s Medal of Commendation during Wednesday’s Reno City Council meeting.

“He was a Marine, and that was first,” Sperry’s son, Joe Sperry, said. “But I didn’t grow up with him when he was in the Marines, and I saw the father and protector part of him. We always communicated and made sure he knew what was going on around the community. He wanted to take care of it the best he could.”

Years after serving during the Vietnam War and reaching the rank of major, Sperry headed his neighborhood watch program near his home in the Donner Springs area where he lived for more than 30 years.
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Monday, December 30, 2013

Georgia National Guardsman gunned down by 14 year old

Family demands peace after soldier's shooting death
WSB 2 News
By Rachel Stockman
December 29, 2013

ATLANTA, Ga. — Family members hope a local soldier's death sparks a movement to root out senseless crime in a northeast Atlanta neighborhood.

"This could have been anyone's son. They took my son ," said Nichole Villafane, the mother of 21-year-old Xavier Arnold.

Atlanta police said Arnold was killed during an attempted robbery on a bike path between Rogers and Warren streets in Kirkwood.

"Our victims, their behavior had nothing to do with what happened to them," said Atlanta Police Capt. Paul Guerrucci. "It appears to be a senseless robbery."

On Saturday police said a juvenile had been arrested in connection with the Thursday night shooting death of a local soldier.

"A 14-year-old killed my son," said Villafane, "I am glad that someone that didn't have the scruples to think about life and consequences is off the street."
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Sunday, December 29, 2013

Bad guy with gun stopped by Vietnam Vet Marine with a cane

Retired Marine foils robbery with cane
Miami Herald
BY MARIA PEREZ
December 28, 2013

When two men tried to rob Windell Haynes at gunpoint on the porch of his Liberty City home on Saturday, the 60-year-old Vietnam veteran fought back with a cane.

In the ensuing confusion, one of the attackers apparently shot the other, sending the wounded man to Jackson Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries. The second robber ran away.

The Haynes family and a neighbor were having lunch on the porch of his home in the 900 block of Northwest 47th Terrace in Liberty City when two men approached from the back yard and one of them pointed a gun at the Marine Corps veteran.

According to a woman who identified herself as Haynes’ sister, the other man tried to snatch a chain from around the veteran’s neck. Haynes responded by hitting the man with a cane.

That's when the man with the gun accidentally shot his accomplice in the stomach, according to Haynes’ sister .

Catherine Loud, Haynes’ neighbor could only see a man in a gray hoodie running away when he heard the gunshot and came to see what had happened. The injured man lay on the ground.

"He was shot. He didn’t move," said Loud, adding that the wounded man looked to be about 18 years old.
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Sunday, December 8, 2013

Iraq veteran lured to death in Indiana with Craigslist ad for iPad

Iraq veteran lured to death in Indiana with Craigslist ad for iPad
reports Sgt. 1st Class James Vester reportedly planned to buy the tablet as a Christmas gift for his parents, but was gunned down on Indianapolis' tough west side. Two teenage brothers face charges of murder and robbery in the heartless killing.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY DOYLE MURPHY
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2013

An Iraq war veteran was gunned down in Indianapolis — reportedly over an iPad.

Sgt. 1st Class James Vester responded to a Craigslist ad on Wednesday and headed for the city’s west side, where he was robbed and murdered by two teenage brothers, according to police and media reports.

“He knew it wasn’t the best neighborhood, that’s why he went in the middle of the afternoon,” family friend Sarah Hill told the Indianapolis Star. “He was being careful.”

The married father of a 1-year-old boy wanted to buy the iPad as a Christmas gift for his parents, WISHTV reported.
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Sunday, December 1, 2013

Slain Rite Aid manager's family holds fundraiser in his name

Slain Rite Aid manager's family holds fundraiser in his name
Delaware County Daily Times
By Rose Quinn
POSTED: 11/30/13

When he joined the Navy at age 30, Jason Scott McClay had finally started living the life he’d imagined since he was a student at Haverford High School.

His six years serving aboard the USS Kitty Hawk not only reinforced the deep pride he had for his country, but afforded him opportunities to forge lasting friendships and visit places like Thailand, Hong Kong and Australia, according to his mother, Margie Reiley of Haverford.

“He was stationed in Japan, but he got to travel all over the world,” she said. “He made friends wherever he went.”

A foot injury he suffered aboard the supercarrier that required two major surgeries curtailed Jason’s plan for a military career, she said. He was honorably discharged after seven years.

Come Saturday, Dec. 7, a fundraiser in memory of Jason Scott McClay to primarily benefit disabled and homeless veterans and their families through the Veterans Multi-Service Center (VMC) in Coatesville will be held in The Ballroom at The Lamb Tavern, 865 W. Springfield Road in Springfield, from 7 to 11 p.m. Tickets for the Jason Scott McClay Hero Fund are $30 and include buffet dinner, dessert, soda bar, silent auction and live music by Del’s Groove. There will also be a cash cocktail bar.

“Jason would be very proud of this,” his mother said.

The McClay-Reiley family

It will be three months on Dec. 19 since Jason, a Rite Aid pharmacy manager, was shot and killed during what authorities say was a robbery at the store at Ninth Street and Highland Avenue in Chester. Five Philadelphia residents are facing trial for first-degree murder and related offenses.
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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Surveillance video shows Missouri Iraq veteran pulled gun on armed robber faster

Tables turned on armed robber who tried to hold up an Iraq war veteran
Daily Mail
By HELEN COLLIS
4 September 2013

Thief stares down the barrel of quick thinking victim's gun after trying to steal from a store
Thief pulled out gun and demanded all the money in a store in Marionville, Mo
But war veteran store clerk reacted quickly, and pulled out his own firearm
Within seconds he had his weapon in the thief's mouth and was in control
The attacker slowly backed off as the clerk followed him with his handgun

A thief who pulled a gun on a store cashier coyly left with his tail between his legs when the clerk - an Iraq War veteran - reacted quickly using his years of training.

Jon Lewis Alexander, 54, had a gun pulled on him while at work, but within a split second he'd pulled out his own firearm and had it inside the thief's mouth.

The tense exchange took place in a store in Marionville, Missouri, and was caught on CCTV.
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Dallas Police seek killer of homeless veteran caught in crossfire

Dallas police seek gunman who killed homeless veteran after robbery at illegal dice game
Dallas News
By Sarah Spellings
July 23, 2013

Dallas police are asking for help identifying a man accused of shooting a homeless veteran caught in the crossfire after a robbery at a dice game.

Craig Watson, 51, was sitting at a bus stop in the 9500 block Bruton Road in Pleasant Grove about 11:15 p.m. June 29 when armed robbers held up an illegal dice game at a nearby car wash.

After an exchange of gunfire, the robbers fled in a car. That’s when police say the suspect came out of a convenience store and shot at the fleeing vehicle, killing Watson.

“He was just an innocent bystander,” Dallas police Maj. Jeff Cotner said.
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Friday, July 12, 2013

Iraq Veteran fights off robbers in Atlanta

Army Veteran fights robbers in midtown Atlanta
WSBTV News
July 11, 2013

ATLANTA — Police are stepping up security after a string of armed robberies in midtown Atlanta.

On Thursday, Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri talked to a victim who fought back.

Residents in midtown have experienced five robberies in five days. One of the victims said he was walking on Sixth Street near Juniper Street, heading to his car when two young men pointed guns at him. That was just moments after the same men robbed someone else, police said.

“These people knew exactly what they were doing,” said the victim who spoke to Viteri.

He didn't want to appear on camera and asked Channel 2 Action News to call him by his last name, Ali. He said he was leaving dinner with friends just after midnight early Tuesday when he heard two men running behind him on Sixth Street.

“I thought they were going to keep running past me. When they didn't run past me, I turned around, and I just see two barrels of two weapons staring at my head,” said Ali, an Army veteran who served in Iraq.
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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Wounded veteran from Tallahassee robbed in Santa Fe

Vet says money for service dog lost in robbery
By Nico Roesler
The New Mexican via AP
Posted : Sunday Feb 17, 2013

SANTA FE, N.M. — Brian Ryder has undergone 23 surgeries to repair his spine and hips after a nearly fatal accident in July 2009, while he was deployed with the U.S. military in Afghanistan. He was saving his money to buy a service dog that he hoped could change his life.

One day after he moved to Santa Fe last week, however, he lost his savings of about $700 when two men robbed him at gunpoint just north of the city’s downtown.

Ryder, 38, said in an interview Wednesday that he had moved to Santa Fe on Feb. 6 to live with his mother and continue various treatments at the veterans hospital in Albuquerque.

He figured a service dog would help him in every area of his life — mainly with his mobility. He takes falls on a weekly basis, about nine of which have resulted in concussions. “I’m just scared to death of one of these days taking a fall, hitting my head and losing the memory and cognition I have left,” said Ryder, who walks with a cane.

Originally from Tallahassee, Fla., Ryder was walking back to his mother’s house at about 11:20 p.m. Feb. 7, after having a drink at The Rouge Cat bar on Marcy Street. “It was my first time off a base in four years,” he said. “I wanted to celebrate with a beer.”
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Mugger with shotgun lost fight with Iraq veteran!

Iraq Veteran Wrestles Shotgun from Robber
September 18, 2012
by Rob Low

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 40-year-old robbery suspect apparently got more than he bargained for when police say he tried to mug 24-year-old Aaron Martin. Martin was walking home near the Country Club Plaza around 3:20 Sunday morning when he says a car stopped at the corner of Main St. and Ward Parkway.

Martin says a man with a shotgun jumped out of a Black Crown Victoria and demanded Martin’s wallet.

” I dropped my wallet down in front of me and as he bent down to pick it up, as he was coming back up I noticed the shotgun was pointed up over the top of my shoulder so I shoved it up over his face and wrestled him down to the ground and eventually got the gun away from him,” Martin said.

At one point the robber’s get-away driver jumped out of the car and yelled at Martin to let the suspect go. Instead Martin hung on and says the would-be accomplice jumped back in his car and drove away.

Two witnesses helped grab the shotgun and called police. The shotgun turned out not to be loaded but Martin tells Fox 4 his only thought at the time was not to be a victim.
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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Australian Family wants Vietnam Veteran Greg Holmes back home

Father's Day plea: Please come home Dad
Perth Now
Linda Cann
From: The Sunday Times
September 01, 2012

Greg Holmes' children and grandchildren: Michael Holmes, Brett Holmes, Justin Holmes, Chelcie Taylor, Sascha Taylor, Kaylene Taylor, Alexia Taylor, Emiliya Taylor, wife Margreta Holmes, Leanne Pauls , Ashleigh Pauls, Christopher Pauls and Anne Holmes. Picture: Theo Fakos Source: PerthNow

THIS is the photo that a Perth family hopes will bring their dad back home.

Vietnam veteran Greg Holmes disappeared from his Balga house in 1998 after armed robbers threatened his life with knives and guns in the family newsagency twice in a year.

On their 15th Father's Day without him, his family hope the picture with the eight grandchildren he has never met will persuade him or someone who knows his whereabouts to contact them.

Police located him two years after his disappearance in the eastern states, but he did not want to make contact with his wife or three children then.

His family believe he snapped after the trauma of the Vietnam War followed by life-threatening burglaries pushed him to run from his fears rather than accept counselling.
read more here

To readers in Australia if you can help this family find Greg, please do it.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Retired Army staff sgt. foils robbery attempt

Retired Army staff sgt. foils robbery attempt
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Aug 31, 2012

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Police in Bellingham, Wash., said a gas station clerk with a hammer stapler chased away a burly would-be robber armed with pruning shears.

The Bellingham Herald reported that police released photos Thursday of the Aug. 20 robbery attempt. They show a 6-foot-tall, 200-pound man wearing a black ski mask walking into Starvin’ Sam’s.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Two Men Rob 71-Year-Old Veteran At VFW

Two Men Rob 71-Year-Old Veteran At VFW
By Eugene Buenaventura
Published Monday, August 27th, 2012
The Yakima VFW

A Vietnam veteran is robbed at gunpoint this morning at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Yakima.

It happened about 6:30, when a 71-year-old employee was preparing to open for the day.

The veteran answered a knock on the back door and two men forced their way in, demanding money at gunpoint.
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Thursday, August 9, 2012

Vietnam Veteran killed saving granddaughter from thieves

Vietnam Veteran and grandfather dies saving 12-year-old granddaughter from thieves
Detroit Police are still searching for suspects
By: Kim Russell
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Detroit Police are searching for the thieves who barged into a house full of children, beat a 16-year-old with a baseball bat, then shot and killed a grandfather.

“He jumped in front of a bullet for his 12-year-old granddaughter,” said Melissa Villneff, the daughter of the man killed.

She and her brother Michael Villneff describe their father as a hero. They say 62-year-old John Villneff was a Vietnam Veteran who received two Purple Hearts. He had one son, two daughters, and 12 grandchildren.

He lived next door to his daughter’s house on Rutland on the city’s west side. His adult children were out enjoying a Tigers game. His grandchildren, who are between the ages of 10 and 16 were at home together Wednesday night when young men with guns and a bat came to their home.

Relatives say the young men attacked the 16-year-old, hitting him in the head with a baseball bat. They demanded what was inside a safe at the home. They soon learned the safe contained almost nothing of value. They then stole a Wii and an Xbox.

A 12-year-old girl at the home managed to take pictures of the suspects as they committed their crime. She then ran from the home towards her grandfather’s home next door. He came out to see what was wrong. The war veteran saw armed men coming for her, covered her, and pushed her into the safety of his home as he was shot.

He died at his home.

“I didn’t get to tell him I love him,” said Michael Villneff. “He is a hero.”
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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Iraq Veteran stabbed stopping robber

Iraq war veteran Shawn Cox stabbed in the neck while trying to stop robber
By: Rochelle Ritchie

PORT ST LUCIE, Fla. -- A Port St. Lucie man and Iraq war veteran is being hailed a hero after trying to help a woman being robbed at knife-point in a store parking lot Tuesday night.

For his efforts, Shawn Cox ended up with a stab wound to the neck. But the two victims are thankful to be alive and are hoping justice is soon served.

Marie Whitely was able to thank the man who came to her rescue.

"I just wanted to come say thank you, I couldn't do it last night I was so overwhelmed," Whitely told him.

This surveillance video shows Whitely loading groceries in her car in the parking lot of Walmart on St. Lucie West Boulevard.

That's when you see a woman sneaking up behind her.
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Saturday, April 21, 2012

D-Day 101st vet beaten, wife killed in robbery

D-Day 101st vet beaten, wife killed in robbery
By Philip Grey -
The (Clarksville, Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle
Posted : Saturday Apr 21, 2012


The 101st Airborne Division Association is asking its members and other Screaming Eagles veterans to step up and help one of their own — a 90-year-old D-Day veteran who nearly died as a result of a brutal home invasion last month.

Bob Strait of Tulsa, Okla., was hospitalized after a vicious March 14 robbery that killed his wife, 85-year-old Nancy Strait. She was beaten and raped in the attack.

The couple, who met on a blind date on Thanksgiving Day 1946, had been married for 65 years.

Police have one suspect in custody, but they believe as many as four others took part in the home invasion.

TO DONATE Send checks to the Nancy Strait and Bob Strait Support Trust, c/o Arvest Bank, Tulsa Branch, 502 S. Main St., Tulsa, OK 74103. Please include on the check’s memo line that is for the Straits’ account.


One of the Strait’s daughters, Lenore Gay, said the investigation is ongoing, but she is unhappy that Tulsa police have mustered nowhere near the resources in her parents’ case as those applied to a nationally reported shooting spree in Tulsa that occurred at around the same time.
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original post
WWII veteran in hospital after being attacked, wife was killed

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Marine robbed and shot in critical condition

Marine critically wounded in Church Hill shooting

By: TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF
Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: January 29, 2012

Richmond police are seeking the public's help in the search for a man who shot and critically wounded a Marine reserve sergeant after a robbery on Church Hill late Friday.

The victim was shot while walking with his girlfriend in the 600 block of North 33rd Street after being approached by a man who displayed a gun and demanded money, police said Saturday.

After the victims complied with the request, the man was shot.

The suspect was described by police as black, about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a skinny build and possibly in his late 20s. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored hoodie with a white-and-black or red bandana covering the lower portion of his face. The bandana possibly had a houndstooth print design, police said.
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