Opinion ID: 1974893
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Robbery of Kovak's Liquor Store

Text: After the Sol's Liquor Store robbery, Owens and Sampson decided that two guns were enough to rob Kovak's. On January 30, 1984, Owens and Sampson met Jackson and Bush at Singletary's apartment. Owens assigned responsibilities to each of them. Jackson was to hold the store i.e., make sure no one entered or left during the robbery; Bush was to take the money from one cash register and the lottery machine on the right; Sampson was to take the register on the left side of the store; and Owens was to wait outside and act as the lookout. Owens drove to Kovak's in his green Datsun which he parked in an alley nearby. As the trio walked from the car to the store, Sampson handed Jackson the .38 long which had been taken in the Northeast Liquor Store robbery. When Jackson, Bush and Sampson entered the store at about 7:30 p.m., the manager, Lester Tuchman, and a clerk, William Morrison, were working behind the main counter on the left side of the store, and Adrienne Brox was selling lottery tickets at the counter on the other side. One customer, Errick Murdock, was waiting to buy a lottery ticket from Brox, while another, Reginald Reid, was in the rear of the store. Consistent with their plans, Bush went to the lottery machine, Sampson went behind the counter where Tuchman and Morrison were working, and Jackson, armed with the.38, stood near the front counter, announced the robbery, and commanded everybody to remain where they were. Sampson took two wallets from Morrison's pocket, forced him toward the cash register, and ordered him to open it. The manager, Tuchman, kept moving in spite of Jackson's command that he stop, and Jackson shot Tuchman in the chest from a distance of about four feet. Sampson started to leave the store, but he returned to get the money from the cash register. Bush, who had ordered Ms. Brox to open the register near the lottery machine, started to leave, but Jackson told him to make sure he had all of the money. Bush returned to Brox's station and took more money from a cigar box inside a drawer. Before leaving, Jackson commanded everyone to remain where they were, threw a display case of watches to the floor, and kicked it. Someone yelled, Mike, c'mon let's go. Bush, Sampson, and Jackson ran outside where Owens was waiting in the Datsun. Again, the three passengers lay down to avoid being seen as Owens drove away. Jackson told Sampson that he shot the clerk because he thought the man was reaching for something. Sampson stayed at the Econo Lodge after this robbery. John Williams testified that the day after the robbery, Bush admitted to him that he was involved in the robbery with three others; that an employee had been shot with the mounty gun because he appeared to be reaching for a weapon; that the shooter knocked over the watch display case after the shooting; and that they used a green Datsun as the get-away car.