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| Armed robbery suspect found not guilty By JOHN MUNFORD A Fayetteville man was found not guilty Thursday of the armed robbery, aggravated assault and kidnapping of a Fayetteville man who thought he was going to be buying auto rims from two other men in north Fayette County in 2002. The victim had testified that Julian Charles Webb, 20, set him up with the two men who robbed him at a home in the Princeton Chase subdivision. Jeremiah Howard said he thought the attackers were going to kill him, so he begged for his life and lied that he had a young son who he wanted to live for. Howard said he never saw a third attacker, whose voice he thought sounded like Webb’s. Prosecutors said Webb was the mastermind of the robbery scheme. Two other suspects charged in the case pled guilty this week to aggravated assault with intent to rob: William Desean Jones, 22, of Fayettevile and Tariq Iba-Hakim Rachaman, 23, of north Fayette County. In return for the pleas, prosecutors dropped charges of armed robbery and kidnapping. Howard told police he knew one of his assailants because they had gone to school together, and when he first saw that man he felt more comfortable about the pre-arranged transaction to buy the rims. After he met the “businessmen” at Just For Feet in the Fayette Pavilion, Howard said they drove to a home at the Princeton Chase subdivision where they asked him to “back-in” to the driveway. When Howard was facing the trunk of the other vehicle, a third person jumped out from hiding and put a gun to Howard’s head, he testified. “He said, “Get down my (racial epithet), get down!” Howard told the jury. Howard said he then ducked and took the cash out of his pocket at the same time, handing it to one of the suspects. After he was ordered to take his clothes off and lay on the ground, Howard said one of the suspects put a gun to his head. After Howard claimed to have a little boy, the attackers bought the story and told him to stay on the ground until after they left, Howard said. In addition to the cash and a handgun that was taken from Howard, audio-visual equipment was stripped from his car.
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