Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Tinseltown trial: I thought we were all deadBy JOHN MUNFORD Tinseltown Movie Theater manager Dair Bradley testified Tuesday morning in a Fayette Superior Court robbery trial that two black males wearing ski masks pointed guns at her head and forced her back into an office to open the safe the night of June 14. Later, at one point, Bradley said she was afraid she would be killed after the attacker she called the skinny guy became enraged when he found out a police officer was on the other end of a phone call she answered at his request. I thought at that point we were all dead, that hed kill me first and then go to the other two and kill them, Bradley said Tuesday during the trial of two suspects charged with the robbery. Andre Lee, 28, of Powder Springs and Darrell Brown, 45, of Douglasville, are being prosecuted for two counts each of armed robbery, three counts each of kidnapping and one count each of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Both have pleaded not guilty, and testimony in the trial is expected to continue this morning. The Tinseltown robbery resulted in a massive police cordon around the theater, Lees immediate arrest, and a 24-hour search of the 17-screen building, ending with Browns arrest the next day. Police units from Fayette, Clayton and Henry counties participated in the event. During opening statements Tuesday morning, defense attorney Joe Saia said that at most there was enough evidence to charge them with criminal attempt to commit armed robbery because of the quick response from Fayetteville police. Saia said that Lee, his client, was convinced to participate in the robbery by Brown. But Browns attorney, Lloyd Walker said the evidence would show a third person was the ringleader of the crime, and he accused police of conducting an incomplete investigation, noting that three guns, not two, were found at the scene, which he said made it likely that another person was involved in the crime. Prosecutor Randy Coggin said during his opening statement that Lee and Brown ordered employees to the floor and tied them up, while Bradley was forced to open the safe, triggering an alert to police. Bradley testified that when she first encountered the two masked men, one of them pushed her to the ground and put a gun to her head with hard force, asking where her buddy was. After being confused at first, she figured out he wanted to know about other employees, and she told him several were there that night, due to the midnight screening of Batman Begins that was due to take place the next evening. Bradley said the skinny attacker threatened her on several occasions. He said, Do as I say or Ill kill you, she testified. He also mentioned not wanting any dead bodies around here. The skinny attacker also made a point to show Bradley that he took her drivers license after dumping out her purse on the floor, she said. He also took her cell phone and car keys, and asked her if her boyfriend was coming to pick her up. At one point, while she opened the safe, Bradley said the skinny attacker warned her not to enter any funny codes into the safe. I told him it wasnt my money and he could have it, Bradley said. Before answering the in-house phone call from police Lt. Lynn Crawshaw, Bradley said the skinny attacker told her to say she couldnt leave the office because she was having a fight with her boyfriend. Bradley added that was comforting to her because she knew several police officers and they would know something was wrong because they knew she didnt have a boyfriend. After determining the suspects were likely in one of the offices upstairs, Fayetteville police officers entered the office while both suspects tried to escape into the ceiling, Coggin said in his opening statement Monday afternoon. Lee was handcuffed after he was pulled down to the floor by officer David Cagle, who was hurt by something that fell from above, and Brown slipped away into the ceiling after officer J.D. Lakeman tried to pull him down, Coggin said. Although police could see Brown in the ceiling on top of a metal air conditioning duct, they couldnt reach him, Coggin said. Brown ultimately eluded police for almost 24 hours as multiple SWAT teams searched the shuttered theater looking for him, police said. Brown he was ultimately caught after Special Agent Lamar Dyar of the Fayette County Sheriffs Office Drug Task Force spotted him in between a firewall closer to the ground, trying to hide under insulation, Coggin said. Footprints on light fixtures and in other areas led Dyar to Brown, Coggin added. Police said Lee and Brown got over $1,100 cash from the heist though they werent able to get away with the money.
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