Update on Citizen Shooting Robber from Chicago: It was a Gun Fight!

This updates our previous coverage.

It seems that the local news outlets in Indiana were mum yesterday on one critical little detail in all of this:  The robber was in fact armed and one of the accomplices pried a gun from the dying robber’s hands and then began shooting back at the armed citizen before fleeing the scene.

My favorite sound-bite from this article comes from Police Chief Brian Miller who summed up the situation for the robbers with the following understatement;  “It didn’t go very well for them at all.”

Robber killed, two others face charges

January 13, 2009
By Andy Grimm
Post-Tribune staff writer

HAMMOND, INDIANA — Two Chicago men face criminal charges in connection with a robbery attempt that turned into a shootout that left a would-be robber dead.

Ramon Tywonne Banks, 19, and Donnell Banton, 20, have been charged with attempted robbery and resisting law enforcement for allegedly trying to rob a man in the parking lot of an Indianapolis Boulevard tavern and then leading police on a chase that lasted for several miles. The pair abandoned a 17-year-old alleged accomplice, who was shot in the chest by the man they allegedly tried to mug.

The robbery victim, a 38-year-old Gary man, had just pulled into the parking lot of McTavern’s, 7443 Indianapolis, around 11:30 p.m. Saturday when Banks and the 17-year-old walked up to him and demanded the man’s wallet and fur coat. The man said “wait a minute” as the 17-year-old — identified in court documents as Kenneth Denson — counted to 10, as if counting down the seconds until he would shoot, said Police Chief Brian Miller.

The man opened a rear door to his Cadillac Escalade, withdrew a hidden handgun, and fired at Denson. Banks [one of the robbers] said he ran to where Denson fell, took a gun from the teen’s hand and fired back, before running and leaping over a snowbank. Banks then came back over the wall, firing at the man, who returned the shots before jumping back in the Escalade and driving to another part of the parking lot, police said.

Banton, who was waiting in a car outside The Big Wheel Restaurant across the street, picked up Banks and the pair sped north on Indianapolis, leaving Denson behind. Police spotted Banton’s car and gave chase into East Chicago, where Banton struck a wall in the 2800 block of Indianapolis and came to a halt.

Hammond Fire Department medical crews treated Denson at the scene, but he died before he could be taken to a hospital.

The targeted victim was waiting in the car with a female friend, and still was holding the gun when police arrived. The man had a permit for the pistol, and gave it to a police officer when asked.

“He has been very cooperative,” Miller said. The man has not been charged.

Court records state Banks told police he, Banton and Denson had been driving around, smoking marijuana and drinking, and stopped at gas station on Indianapolis Boulevard. Denson saw the Escalade across the street and said he recognized the driver and wanted his money. Police do not believe Denson knew the man he attempted to rob.

“They were driving along specifically with the idea of robbing someone, it wasn’t personal against the man,” Miller said.  “It didn’t go very well for them at all.”

Anyone with information about the robbery may contact detectives Zeke Hinojosa or Sgt. Brett Plemmons at 852-2906.

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