By Michael Apfel
MODESTO, CA – Following a preliminary examination in Stanislaus County Superior Court last week, Judge Ricardo Córdova found there was sufficient evidence to move forward to trial in a felony robbery and felony assault with a deadly weapon case for the accused, who allegedly attempted to steal items from a variety store while possessing a pocketknife.
The alleged crimes occurred in a Family Dollar store in Modesto at around 8 p.m.. The prosecution called two employees present at the incident to testify in the examination.
The first employee to testify said he noticed the accused and another woman loading two shopping carts with a substantial amount of items, and his coworker soon informed him that a security pole at the store’s exit preventing shipping carts from leaving the premises had just been broken, calling the employee to the front of the store.
“(The accused) also went up front and tried to ram me with the cart through the front door, and I got in the way,” said the employee. “I grabbed the cart as he was trying to leave, and he hit me in the back of the head.”
After the employee had been punched in the head, his coworker then pushed the accused to the ground, and the two of them began wrestling. The woman that was loading the other shopping cart left the scene at this point, heading back to her car in the parking lot.
The coworker soon stood up, and the employee saw the accused grab a knife and start threatening the coworker with it, gesturing it toward him.
“(The accused) was holding (the knife) out, pointing it at my coworker, moving it towards him,” said the employee.
The accused fled the scene, and the coworker directly involved in the scuffle grabbed a leftover drink on the ground in the parking lot and threw it at the accused’s car.
On cross-examination, the employee said he could not remember what the knife specifically looked like or which hand the accused held it in, but he was certain that he was holding what looked to be a pocketknife. The employee also said he told the police that he was not scared during the incident because his coworker helped protect him.
The prosecution then called the coworker to testify, who repeated the first employee’s testimony. The coworker said he witnessed the first employee get punched in the back of the head, prompting him to push the accused to the ground. After wrestling on the ground, the coworker stood up and kicked the accused in the stomach once.
The coworker, about four feet from the accused, said he began backing away, feeling threatened by the knife, and the accused soon left the scene without any of the items. He said on cross-examination he felt threatened by the accused.
Following examinations, the defense attorney argued there was a lack of fear demonstrated by the witnesses, the items never left the store and could not be considered in the robbery charge, and the brandishing of the pocketknife was in self-defense.
The judge did not agree with these arguments, finding sufficient evidence for both charges to go to trial. Arraignment was scheduled for Nov. 10.
