Man gets 5 years in prison for robbery that netted $30
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
A Greenfield man was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday after he threatened to shoot a woman in a Greenfield parking lot if she did not give him all her money. He escapade the incident with $30 and a pack of cigarettes.
Chad Bates, 25, was indicted in December on one count of first-degree felony aggravated robbery.
Bates appeared Thursday in Highland County Common Pleas Court in the custody of the Highland County Sheriff's Office. He was represented by attorney J.D. Wagoner.
The state was represented by Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins and Assistant Highland County Prosecutor Molly Bolek.
According to the report by the Greenfield Police Department, on Oct. 22, two women traveling in a vehicle and had pulled into a parking lot in the 200 block of 11th Street and observed a "young man" walk by the vehicle. A few minutes later, he walked back and, "opened the car door and stated that he had a gun and to give him (their) money and purses. He grabbed a brown cigarette case and demanded their purses or he would shoot them."
The victim reported that the cigarette case contained a $20-bill, a $10-bill, and a piece of paper with a phone number on it.
The witnesses said that he used profanity and repeatedly indicated that he would use the gun if they didn't give him money. One victim pushed his arm away, while the driver used the horn on the car, and the suspect ran away.
Officers with the GPD investigated apartment complex the suspect had allegedly run toward. They observed a man matching the suspect's description, but when he saw the officers, he ran back into an apartment, according to the report. Officers knocked on the door and announced themselves, but no one answered the door. One officer stated he had prior knowledge of the residents that live at the apartment and administered a photo lineup to (the victim). According to the report, the victim picked Bates out of a photo lineup. Officers went back to the apartment and were able to obtain permission to search the residence. They located Bates, and in a trash can they discovered the brown cigarette case and a piece of paper with the phone number on it.
In court Thursday, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss told Bates that he faced three to 11 years in prison on the charge.
There was discussion among the attorneys about whether or not prison time was mandatory, because while there was not gun specification charged, it was alleged that Bates indicated he had a gun during the commission of the robbery. A gun specification on the charge has mandatory prison time. Coss concluded eventually that it was irrelevant, because he normally grants prison time for first-degree felony charges.
"If I grant community control in a first-degree felony case, there'd be a lot of heart attacks in the building - including me," Coss said. "I have never sentenced to someone to community control on a first -degree felony."
Coss said that whenever a gun or a threat of a gun is involved in a crime, "It raises the possibility that other people will respond," which could result in physical violence, injury or death.
Collins said that the victim and law enforcement had been consulted on the plea agreement, and that they were fine with it.
"(The victim) was very appreciative of the plea," Collins said. "She was very traumatized by this and was not looking forward to a trial."
Collins also noted that Bates had served previous prison time for felony escape, theft, and receiving stolen property, along with additional felony convictions for which he received community control.
Wagoner told the court, "We're not going to try to sell you that (Bates) is a sterling member of the community. But he called me, asked if we could counter-offer (a previous offer from the state). He wanted to admit what he did. We ask that the court give consideration that he admitted this within days of his first pretrial, and we ask that the court follow the recommendation of the state."
Coss followed the state's recommendation and sentenced Bates to five years in prison, and ordered that he pay court costs. He was given 75 days of jail time credit.
A Greenfield man was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday after he threatened to shoot a woman in a Greenfield parking lot if she did not give him all her money. He escaped the incident with $30 and a pack of cigarettes.
Chad Bates, 25, was indicted in December on one count of first-degree felony aggravated robbery.
Bates appeared Thursday in Highland County Common Pleas Court in the custody of the Highland County Sheriff's Office. He was represented by attorney J.D. Wagoner.
The state was represented by Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins and Assistant Highland County Prosecutor Molly Bolek.
According to the report by the Greenfield Police Department, on Oct. 22, two women traveling in a vehicle had pulled into a parking lot in the 200 block of 11th Street and observed a "young man" walk by the vehicle. A few minutes later, he walked back and "opened the car door and stated that he had a gun and to give him (their) money and purses. He grabbed a brown cigarette case (from one woman) and demanded their purses or he would shoot them."
The victim reported that the cigarette case contained a $20 bill, a $10 bill and a piece of paper with a phone number on it.
The witnesses said that he used profanity and repeatedly indicated that he would use the gun if they didn't give him money. One victim pushed his arm away while the driver used the horn on the car, and the suspect ran away.
Officers with the GPD investigated the apartment complex the suspect had allegedly run toward. They observed a man matching the suspect's description, but when he saw the officers, he ran back into an apartment, according to the report. Officers knocked on the door and announced themselves, but no one answered the door. One officer stated he had prior knowledge of the residents that live at the apartment and administered a photo lineup to (the victim). According to the report, the victim picked Bates out of a photo lineup. Officers went back to the apartment and were able to obtain permission to search the residence. They located Bates, and in a trash can, they discovered the brown cigarette case and a piece of paper with the phone number on it.
In court Thursday, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss told Bates that he faced three to 11 years in prison on the charge.
There was discussion among the attorneys about whether or not prison time was mandatory because while there was not gun specification charged, it was alleged that Bates indicated he had a gun during the commission of the robbery. A gun specification on the charge has mandatory prison time. Coss concluded eventually that it was irrelevant because he normally grants prison time for first-degree felony charges.
"If I grant community control in a first-degree felony case, there'd be a lot of heart attacks in the building - including me," Coss said. "I have never sentenced to someone to community control on a first-degree felony."
Coss said that whenever a gun or a threat of a gun is involved in a crime, "It raises the possibility that other people will respond," which could result in physical violence, injury or death.
Collins said that the victim and law enforcement had been consulted on the plea agreement and that they were fine with it.
"(The victim) was very appreciative of the plea," Collins said. "She was very traumatized by this and was not looking forward to a trial."
Collins also noted that Bates had served previous prison time for felony escape, theft and receiving stolen property, along with additional felony convictions for which he received community control.
Wagoner told the court, "We're not going to try to sell you that (Bates) is a sterling member of the community. But he called me, asked if we could counter-offer (a previous offer from the state). He wanted to admit what he did. We ask that the court give consideration that he admitted this within days of his first pretrial, and we ask that the court follow the recommendation of the state."
Coss followed the state's recommendation and sentenced Bates to five years in prison and ordered that he pay court costs. He was given 75 days of jail time credit.
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