Three men charged in robbing marijuana dispensary
Warren MI September 14 2023 A preliminary examination for three men accused of robbing an alleged illegal Warren marijuana dispensary in June will continue later this month after the hearing was adjourned Tuesday following brief testimony by one witness.
Rodney Terrance Robinson, 62, of Detroit; Michael Demond Graham, 48, of Eastpointe; and Lavall Elston Perkins, 63, of Detroit are charged with attempted murder and two counts of armed robbery for breaking in to the Sherwood Dispensary and stealing a safe believed to contain cash last June 9.
The preliminary examination, which will determine whether probable exists to determine a crime was committed and the defendants could be responsible, began Aug. 31 in front of Judge Suzanne Faunce in 37th District Court and was to continue Tuesday. However, a delay in the three defendants arriving at the Warren courthouse from the county jail was delayed significantly due to a traffic accident. That necessitated Faunce adjourning the bulk of the hearing until Sept. 22. The only testimony that occurred Tuesday was offered by a police officer being cross-examined by two of the defense attorneys regarding his analysis of the information gleaned from the defendants’ alleged cell phones.
Five additional witnesses are expected to testify when the hearing continues.
A fourth suspect who allegedly fired two shots that struck a security guard has not been arrested due to a lack of evidence, according to Macomb prosecutors. The co-defendants have not provided information to implicate the suspect.
The incident occurred when one of the suspects caused a disturbance outside of the dispensary on Sherwood Avenue, north of 10 Mile Road, according to police and prosecutors. The unidentified suspect shot the responding security guard through the building’s glass door and shot him again before he and another suspect entered the business and took the safe.
Both men exited the shop into a waiting Chevy Tahoe driven by the getaway driver.
Another one the defendants was allegedly acting as a look-out driver in a second vehicle in the area.
Graham was an employee of the business and provided information to allegedly commit the robbery at the time of the shift change of the security guards, said Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Jeff Stone.
Stone said the dispensary owner has not been cooperating and that the business shut down and moved.
But he said prosecutors have plenty of evidence in the form of the security guard’s testimony, video of the incident and cell phone location information.
Warren police within hours of the incident used one of the city’s automated license-plate readers dispersed to identify the Chevy Tahoe used by the suspects to transport the safe.
That information led them to Graham’s Eastpointe home, where he and Perkins were arrested leaving the home, each carrying a large amount of cash in their pockets, Stone said.
Robinson was later identified and arrested in early August. He also faces a charge of assault with intent to commit armed robbery and several firearms offenses.
Robinson and Perkins are each being held in lieu of a $500,000 bond while Graham is being held in lieu of a $600,000 bond.