18K Robbery Led to Phoenix Officer, Civilian Shot
shadowcat
Atlanta suburb
The armed robbery of $18,000 from two employees of a strip club led to the shooting of a police officer and a civilian in an east Phoenix street, authorities said Thursday.
Two men were arrested after Tuesday afternoon's shooting, which came after a police chase ended with a crash.
Phoenix police planned to provide an update on their investigation at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
The officer and the civilian, who is a volunteer posse member for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, remain hospitalized in critical condition.
Their names haven't been released, but police said the 34-year-old officer is a seven-year veteran and the citizen is 63.
Roger Allen Sharp Jr., 26, of Phoenix, was being held on suspicion of attempted murder, burglary, unlawful flight, resisting arrest, and illegal possession of a weapon. Court records show he was previously convicted of two counts of criminal possession of a forgery device and his right to have a gun has not been restored.
David Lee Murray, 36, of Tempe, was booked into jail on suspicion of armed robbery.
Bail for each man was set at $500,000, and they were awaiting court-appointed lawyers.
Authorities allege that Sharp and Murray robbed two employees of Pink Rhino Cabaret at gunpoint as they left a restaurant around 2 p.m. Tuesday.
The employees told police they were planning to take the $18,000 deposit to a bank when the men robbed them at gunpoint and fled in a vehicle.
An officer responding to the robbery call spotted the vehicle and tried to stop it. The suspects' vehicle crashed into a truck that was stopped at an intersection.
Police said Murray ran away while the officer tried to arrest Sharp at gunpoint with help from the sheriff's posse volunteer, who was driving the truck.
Sharp got the officer's gun and shot the officer and posse member before fleeing with the weapon, according to court documents.
Both men were arrested nearby in the backyards of different homes.
Two men were arrested after Tuesday afternoon's shooting, which came after a police chase ended with a crash.
Phoenix police planned to provide an update on their investigation at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
The officer and the civilian, who is a volunteer posse member for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, remain hospitalized in critical condition.
Their names haven't been released, but police said the 34-year-old officer is a seven-year veteran and the citizen is 63.
Roger Allen Sharp Jr., 26, of Phoenix, was being held on suspicion of attempted murder, burglary, unlawful flight, resisting arrest, and illegal possession of a weapon. Court records show he was previously convicted of two counts of criminal possession of a forgery device and his right to have a gun has not been restored.
David Lee Murray, 36, of Tempe, was booked into jail on suspicion of armed robbery.
Bail for each man was set at $500,000, and they were awaiting court-appointed lawyers.
Authorities allege that Sharp and Murray robbed two employees of Pink Rhino Cabaret at gunpoint as they left a restaurant around 2 p.m. Tuesday.
The employees told police they were planning to take the $18,000 deposit to a bank when the men robbed them at gunpoint and fled in a vehicle.
An officer responding to the robbery call spotted the vehicle and tried to stop it. The suspects' vehicle crashed into a truck that was stopped at an intersection.
Police said Murray ran away while the officer tried to arrest Sharp at gunpoint with help from the sheriff's posse volunteer, who was driving the truck.
Sharp got the officer's gun and shot the officer and posse member before fleeing with the weapon, according to court documents.
Both men were arrested nearby in the backyards of different homes.
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23 comments
Here is the deal there are more than enough laws on the books about gun possession, gun purchasing, etc. But the thing is that the government doesn't crack down on places that do it. They turn a blind eye. So maybe enforce the laws on the books. Just like DWI's, theft, illegal immigration, drug laws, traffic violations, etc. I could go on and on how the judicial system does set examples so it will stop people from breaking the law. Look at the law of carrying less than an 1/8 of weed compared to a person carrying an 1/8 of coke. Who gets hammered??? Yet both are drug offenses just different substance.
Sorry off subject but please enlighten the board on why should it be repelled when this guy was a criminal and couldn't have a gun yet got one?? How would it be a better country when criminals can get guns but law abiding citizens can't???
DID YOU READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE.... He got the OFFICERS GUN!!! So again how would repelling the 2nd do anything in this case. The guy took the officers own gun!!!!
I do not want criminals or the mentally ill to possess guns, and I support laws to that effect. However, I certainly want to have my own guns to protect myself and my home.
I'm inclined to agree with Lone Wolf. This is a third-tier Phoenix club that does not get the foot traffic to generate $18k in bar receipts and dancer fees in a single evening (especially a week day one at that). I wonder how long the cash was piling up in the manager's office before he finally told "someone" to take it to the bank. How many others knew about and planned on an easy score?
Again, I've yet to meet a strip club manager with an MBA. This one is a classic SMH.
CP
It was a phone threat. The drunken idiot believed me in his drunkenness. He never phoned again, nor did he come a calling. Mission Accomplished.
There are laws already out there to keep the guns out of the criminals and mentally ill hands. They do background checks at stores. Any licensed dealer has to do a back ground check. So at gun shows 99% of the people who have booths are licensed dealers. The other 1% are selling other crap. What happens is a person who comes to a gun show to trade or sell their gun to a dealer. The dealer doesn't want it or won't pay the price the guy wants. Then another attendee sees that gun and says... I will pay you what you want...and a deal is done. No background check or nothing. That is the problem I have with gun shows.
Now if they make a law on the books that all gun transfers need to go through a dealer if it isn't immediate family (father/mother to son/daughter or brother/sister to brother/sister). Then it should go to a dealer for background checks. Because families should be able to hand down guns via generations. Some people like to hunt with grandpa's old rifle.
The stories about gun show sales without background checks are fabrications intended to create public outcry for more gun restrictions. People who buy guns at shows - and walk out with them - have a Federal Firearms License, or a dealer at the show did a background check just for the show, or they hold a Weapons Permit (sometimes known as Concealed Carry) that allows them to purchase. Each case requires a background check! Before you slam gun shows, go visit one and try to buy a gun without a background check.
Again... Average Joe walks into a gun show to trade his gun or sell it to a FFL dealer who has a booth. The FFL dealer doesn't want to pay the price so the average joe is about to leave the show. When Basic Bill (another attendee not a person in a booth) comes over and says... hey I will buy that gun from you. The deal is made....NO BACK GROUND CHECK. See... it isn't between anyone with an FFL. it is private party to private party. If you say this doesn't happen I call BS. Because I have bought guns this way. I bought two o/u from a private party at a gun show because the FFL person at the one booth didn't want to deal with this guy. I met him half way and got the guns. Now I have two nice o/u in my collection. It is like selling a gun to your neighbor. You can do it (in certain states) with out a background check.
A federal law requiring that all firearms transactions must go through a FFL will first create an even more comprehensive list of gun owners to raid if ever a Bloomberg like nut actually gets in power. And it will make criminals out of ordinary people who decide to trade their old .22 for a hotshot fishing reel.
I am not in favor of any federal gun laws - going all the way back to the FDR era automatic weapons restrictions. If there is a way to misuse power and authority, someone, sometime, in the federal government will manage to do it. If there is a way to waste money, someone in the federal government will manage to make a rule that requires the waste. The federal government is a model of inefficiency and mismanagement. When allowed to mismanage gun rights and Second Amendment protections they have so far demonstrated that talent.
I also agree with you about the gun sales between private parties will keep going on even if a law as enacted. But if they wanted to make private parties needing to go to an FFL to do a transaction. I wouldn't have much of a problem. But again that is a law where the people who are going to go through the proper channels will and those who want to side step the law.. they will. So it won't do a damn thing except make law abiding citizens jump through more hoops.
The New Year’s Eve robbery that preceded the shooting of a Phoenix police officer and a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Posse member was an inside job orchestrated by a former strip-club bouncer, authorities contend in court documents.
Jason Beau Keep, 35, a former college basketball player who was fired in December from his job as a bouncer, is accused of orchestrating a failed plan to rob the Pink Rhino on Dec. 31, according to court records released Monday.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/2391…