Opinion ID: 3064565
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: August 1, 2002, Commerce Robbery

Text: The day before the Commerce robbery, Derrick O’Neal contacted Carter and several others to ask if they wanted to rob a bank. O’Neal and Edward Warren had chosen the bank because it was close to the freeway and did not have security barriers inside. Carter agreed to rob the bank and agreed to meet the following morning. On the morning of the robbery, O’Neal, Warren, Eric Washington, Joseph Alexander, and Edward Hector met at the home of Warren’s mother. O’Neal testified that Carter was a few hours late to the meeting because he was trying to get a gun and needed to drop his girlfriend off somewhere. They planned each person’s role in the robbery and left for the bank. Carter’s role was to “grab the money” from the teller because “he was quick.” Alexander, Carter, Washington, and Hector entered the bank. O’Neal and Warren remained outside as lookouts. Washington stayed in the lobby area, Alexander walked through the bank to watch the back doors, and Carter and Hector went to the teller counter. When Janet Guizar, a finanUNITED STATES v. CARTER 3827 cial services consultant at the bank, saw the men enter, carrying empty bags and spreading out through the bank, she pressed an alarm. Brenda Lopez, the customer service manager, asked Carter and Hector if she could help them, and they said they wanted to open new accounts. Lopez seated them at a desk, and Guizar stated that she would be with them momentarily. Guizar then went behind the teller counter, told the branch manager to call 911, and picked up a phone to call their corporate security office. Hector and Carter rushed over and told her to hang up the phone. Hector jumped over the teller counter, pointed his gun at two tellers, and told them to put money in his bag. The men left and split up the money, which totaled approximately $3,500.