WA: Wounded teen charged with robbery
The Spokesman-Review.com
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=053101&ID=s971398&cat=sectio
Thursday, May 31, 2001
Wounded teen charged with robbery
Spokane detectives arrested a teen who had been shot in the back after
they figured out he may have been shot while trying to rob a small South
Hill business two weeks ago.
Mark J. Atkins, 19, was taken into custody May 22 after he was released
from an area hospital where he had been treated for a bullet wound to
his back, police spokesman Dick Cottam said. He did not have any more
details about the injury.
Atkins, who said he was a transient, claimed he had been shot while
walking in Grant Park May 18, about the same time as the robbery had
occurred. However, police ruled out the park ruse when people who were
there at the time said they heard nothing like a shot, Cottam said.
Instead, detectives believe that Atkins is the robber who tried to hold
up a small business at 1108 S. Perry. Cottam said the teen walked into
the store and started taking money from the cash register when the
82-year-old shop owner tackled him. The two wrestled until a knife
dropped from the teen’s pocket.
The owner picked up a handgun he had behind the counter and fired three
shots, and the thief dropped everything and fled on a bicycle.
Police ruled the shooting self-defense, Cottam said.
Atkins was booked into jail on a first-degree robbery charge.
