Three 17-year-old males accused of committing four armed robberies in a single night earlier this summer appeared in a Bowie County courtroom Monday.
Jadan West, Adrian Black and Mone’Treiyos Green were brought in one by one for hearings before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. While West will be defended by the Bowie County Public Defenders Office, Tidwell appointed Texarkana attorney Darren Anderson to represent Black and Texarkana attorney Derric McFarland to represent Green. The PD’s office cannot represent co-defendants as their interests may conflict.
None of the teens have been formally indicted by a grand jury. At Monday’s court hearings, Shoaib Daredia of the PD’s office asked that the Bowie County District Attorneys Office present all three defendants’ cases to the grand jury. Once indicted, the cases can be set for trial.
It was just a few minutes before midnight July 31 when Texarkana, Texas, police received a report of a robbery at the Arista Apartments, according to a probable cause affidavit. Two victims reported they were approached by three men armed with guns, one of which had a laser attachment, in the complex parking lot. Stolen were a Nintendo Switch game system, games, wallets and identifications.
The second robbery occurred at approximately 12:14 a.m. Aug. 1 at the Sedona Hills Apartments in Texarkana, Texas. A man reported that he was approached by a man asking to use his phone as he sat in his parked car. The victim reported that as he lowered his window, the man pulled a gun and ordered him out of his car while two others searched his vehicle. As in the first robbery, the victim of the second robbery reported seeing a laser sight attached to the gun. Stolen during the second robbery were the man’s wallet, identification, debit card, iPhone and cash.
The fourth robbery was reported at 1:21 a.m. by two people sitting in a taxi outside a house in the 1800 block of W. 16th Street. The victims in the fourth robbery reported they were approached by two men wearing bandanas on their faces. Both were armed with guns, one of which was described as having a laser attachment. Taken were a wallet, identification and cash. The victims of the fourth robbery reported that the two men left in a Ford Explorer being driven by a third person.
Surveillance video collected from businesses near the crime scenes led investigators to a Ford Explorer registered to a relative of Black’s. Texarkana, Ark., police pulled over a Ford Explorer Aug. 3 which Black was driving and Green’s sister rode as passenger.
The victim of the Sedona Hills robbery reported to police that the Apple ID associated with his stolen iPhone 7 had been changed from his to that of a woman who police determined is Green’s sister. Members of the Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Ark., Police Departments executed a search warrant Aug. 3 on Green’s sister’s home in the 3400 block of Creek Bend Lane in Texarkana, Ark. Cell phones, the game system and identification cards stolen in the robberies were allegedly discovered.
Black, Green and West are being held in the Bowie County jail. If convicted of aggravated robbery, the men face five to 99 years or life on each of the four counts as defendants in Texas are treated as adults at age 17.
Tidwell scheduled the accused teens to return to court in September.
