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BLOCKBUSTER EMPLOYEES ARE BEING MURDERED & ASSAULTED
"The safety of our employees is a paramount concern for us. Unfortunately, this does happen." - Blake Lugash, a spokesman for BLOCKBUSTER
Well glad to see he is so concerned....Damn heartless bastard! |
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BLOCKBUSTER STORY 1Killing is city's first this year By Bill D'Agostino Published: 09-21-2001 A botched robbery turned into a "brutal" murder early Wednesday as two Blockbuster employees were about to close up the video store on Grant Road. Mountain View police officers arrested the suspect, 26-year-old Michael P. McGrath, shortly after he allegedly used a knife to kill one of the two male employees.
At five minutes after midnight, a 911 call was placed from inside the store at 1040 Grant Road. Despite repeated prompting, the caller didn't say anything to the dispatcher who answered the call. "In the background," according to Public Information Officer Jim Bennett, "the dispatcher heard what she believed was a struggle."
The police arrived on the scene at 12:07 a.m. and saw the suspect exiting the building, escorted by a store employee. Soon after, officers entered the store and found the victim, also a male, already dead from multiple stab wounds. Bennett described the murder as "brutal." Mountain View fire personnel also responded to the 911 call.
McGrath allegedly entered the open store around midnight, as the two employees were about to lock up for the night. Bennett said that the reason police believe it was a robbery was because the suspect carried the knife into the store and obtained money from the store's register.
At press time, police were unsure why the robbery turned into a scuffle and murder. Police recovered the weapon they believed was used in the assault, but were not saying what type of knife it was. The police don't think the suspect knew the two employees prior to Wednesday, Bennett said, but he stressed that they were still in the early stages of the investigation.
At press time, no additional information was available about the victim or the other Blockbuster employee. No customers or other employees were believed to be in the store at the time of the incident, but anyone with information should call the Mountain View Police Department at (650) 903-6344. It was the first homicide in Mountain View this year. There were two in 2000 and none in 1999. Click Here for Story Source
BLOCKBUSTER STORY 2 Gunmen bind Blockbuster employees, clean out safe By Laylan Connelly Published: 12-19-2002 Irvine World News
Police are searching for two armed robbers, one referred to as "Jimmy," who held two Blockbuster Video employees at gunpoint and fled with about $1,600 worth of merchandise and an undisclosed amount of cash early Monday morning.
The two robbers, both white males in their 20s, approached 25-year-old Jonathon Lunsford, the store manager, and employee Rudy Deasis, 19, as they were leaving the Westpark Plaza store at 3975 Alton Parkway at about 1 a.m., police said.
"They ordered the two employees back in the store and demanded they open the safe," said Lt. Dave Freedland. The men, brandishing semi-automatic handguns, gained access to the safe and then took the two employees to the bathroom and ordered them to lie on the floor. They bound the victims' hands behind their backs with duct tape and ordered them not to talk, said Freedland. The robbers also threatened to shoot the employees.
The two employees heard one robber refer to the other as "Jimmy."
The robbers also periodically checked on Deasis and Lunsford, asking them if they were OK, Freedland said. The robbers, described as white males in their early 20s, wearing black ski masks and gloves, stole DVD players, computer programs, games and an undisclosed amount of cash from the store.
Most of the 5,400 stores operated by Blockbuster stay open until midnight with some staying open until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, said Blake Lugash, a spokesman for the Dallas-based movie rental chain.
"The safety of our employees is a paramount concern for us," said Lugash. "Unfortunately, this does happen."
There is a video surveillance camera in the store, but police are unsure as to whether it caught the robbery on tape. The victims were able to free themselves and call the police minutes after their captors left the store. Click Here for Story Source
BLOCKBUSTER STORY 3 Blockbuster
Robbery
The search continues for two suspects who robbed a Chester County video store and terrorized two employees.
Tredyffrin Township Police have very little to go on, only a surveillance video tape that captured the crime inside a Blockbuster Video store.
At just after 11:30 on June 19th, an armed robbery took place at the Blockbusters on Swedesford Road.
The store was just about to close when the first suspect entered, wearing a number 32 Eagles jersey. As the surveillance tape shows, he shoped around a bit, asked the employees some questions, and then left the store, only to return with an accomplice - a man wearing a white floppy hat and a gray sweatshirt. Police say that's when the duo suddenly pulled out guns, and announced a hold-up.
According to Tredyffrin Police Detective John Bailey, "They herded the three employees into the back room where they had the three get on the ground and cover their heads with their hands. At that time the second individual who had entered last left the office and started to walk around through the store and we captured him on tape actually ripping the receivers out so they couldn't use the phones."
Back in the office, the suspect wearing the Eagles jersey forced the manager to open the store safe, and removed 5,000 dollars in cash. At that point the robber suddenly noticed the television monitor, and saw himself on it. He told the manager to give him the videotape. The manager searched for a key to unlock the VCR, but was unable to find one. The suspect became angry and shot out the monitor, which exploded.
Fortunately, a television was the only thing that the gunman shot at that night, but police want to find the suspects, before they strike again. Click Here for Story Source
Published: Saturday, May 18, 2002
Donald Wheat, of nearby Clay County, was jailed in Calhoun County on a robbery charge after a court hearing. Officials would not say when or if additional charges will be filed. A gun found inside the video store led police to Wheat, Police Chief Wayne Chandler said. He gave no further details except to say that the community "will find out during the course of this investigation that one young man was very heroic." The men -- two Blockbuster employees and two brothers browsing for videos -- were shot to death during a robbery Wednesday evening. All but one was shot in the back of the head. The store had a video camera, but authorities said it was apparently not working properly. The victims were identified as employees Austin Joplin, 22, and Douglas Neal, 27; and customers Joseph Burch, 21, and his brother Andrew, 19. Authorities have said the Blockbuster robbery may be related to a holdup at a Movie Gallery video store Monday in Heflin, about 20 miles east of Anniston. There, a female clerk was stabbed 10 times but survived. The case also may be related to an armed robbery and slaying last week in Carrollton, Ga., Carroll County (Ga.) Sheriff Terry Langley said. Click Here for Story Source
BLOCKBUSTER STORY 5 TWO SHOT DURING ATTEMPTED BLOCKBUSTER ROBBERY Published: March 19, 2002
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate an overnight robbery at a Blockbuster Video Store in Orange City that was foiled by an employee’s father who shot both of the suspects. The attempted robbery occurred at about 11:45 p.m. Monday evening at the Blockbuster on Enterprise Road. One of the suspects has died. A second suspect is being treated at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach for a gunshot wound to the chest. Both robbers were shot while inside the video store by a man who came to the business to pick up his son. The robbery suspect who died in the shooting has been identified as 19-year-old James Wince of Deltona. Wince was armed with a rifle during the attempted robbery and was an employee at the Blockbuster store. The wounded suspect has been identified as 18-year-old Darius Bennett, also of Deltona. Investigators don’t believe Bennett was armed. The Sheriff’s Office is preparing a murder charge against Bennett based on the fact that his involvement in the robbery led to Wince’s death. Bennett was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Halifax Medical Center. The employee’s father who shot the two suspects is 50-year-old Robert Shockey. Armed with a .45-caliber handgun, Shockey was waiting to pick up his son from work when he witnessed the robbery and fired four shots at the suspects. Two bullets struck Wince, one bullet struck Bennett and the fourth bullet missed both supsects. The same Blockbuster store was robbed on Jan. 24. While Wince was working at the time of the robbery and initially listed as a victim, Sheriff’s investigators suspect that he helped plan the robbery and that Bennett also was involved. The Sheriff’s Office previously arrested Bennett on Sept. 30, 2001 on charges of uttering forged bills. Court records show that he pled guilty last month to petty theft and was placed on six months probation. Click Here for Story Source |
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