Two more men walked free of shooting with intent and aggravated robbery charges stemming from an attack on a restaurant in April 2016, but the other two accused were not so fortunate, as they admitted guilt to simple robbery.
The two who were convicted are Blade Samuel and Errol DeCastro, both of Cashew Hill. They were sentenced to the time spent on remand, which was 39 months for DeCastro and 20 months for Samuel.
Jamal Crump and Kevin Luke walked free last week, and Jay Peters has been off the hook since January 2018.
When the charges were withdrawn, prosecutor Shannon Jones-Gittens indicated that the police file did not have the supporting evidence to proceed with the case against all the accused.
The charges stemmed from an incident on April 20, 2016, on All Saints Road, where three masked men forced their way into the Good Phoenix Chinese Restaurant and robbed the owners at gunpoint.
At that time, the police said they reviewed video footage of the incident which showed two young men entering the restaurant; one dressed in a blue T-shirt and a dark-colored pair of long pants and the other dressed in a dark-colored T-shirt and white short pants.
The police had also told the public that at least two of the five men were arrested because it was believed they were being used as a distraction to allow the other masked robbers to carry out the act. However, in the end, the evidence did not support the police’s suspicion.