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Hernando Today

Park Robbery Suspect Convicted of Robbery With A Firearm, Grand Theft

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: January 14, 2009

Updated: 01/14/2009 10:57 am

BROOKSVILLE - A jury convicted 19-year-old Jaime Marquez of robbery with a firearm and grand theft after a day-long trial that recounted the night of Aug. 31, 2008.
On that night, Marquez and his accomplice, Jarae Crussell, robbed a teenage couple at gunpoint atop the watchtower at Linda Pederson Park in Hernando Beach. The jury held Marquez responsible for robbing the man in the couple, but acquitted him of a second robbery with a firearm charge related to his girlfriend.
The conviction on those charges brought another conviction for an accompanying violation of probation charge. Marquez was on house arrest at the time of the robbery for an unrelated robbery.
Tuesday's trial opened with one of the victims in the case, Sonny Mylle. Mylle, 19, testifying that he and his girlfriend had an argument that night and they decided to head over to Linda Pederson Park in Hernando Beach around 10 p.m. to talk things over.
Not long after they climbed the 40-foot lookout tower, they saw a Jeep pull into the parking lot, then leave again. Two figures wearing dark hooded sweatshirts climbed up the steps, then emerged on the open deck.
Mylle said hello.
They said hello.
The hooded pair headed over to the other side of the deck. As Mylle gave them a long look, the shorter of the two pulled a black handgun from his waistband and racked the slide.
"I was pretty scared," Mylle told Assistant State Attorney Don Barbee.
The robber demanded they empty their pockets. Mylle only had car keys in his pockets, so he tossed them over to the gunman. His girlfriend handed the other robber her earrings and sweater.
Mylle was ordered to the ground.
"Don't move for 20 minutes or I'll come back and kill you," the robber said as he escaped down the stairs, Mylle testified.
His girlfriend watched them climb into Mylle's green BMW and speed out of the parking lot. Mylle shouted to the fishermen across the street at Jenkins Creek, "Help, help, I've been robbed."
Defense attorney Alan Fanter interrupted the narrative at this point:
Can you give a description of the robber's face?
"I didn't get a good look. I was pretty focused on the gun," Mylle said. The best he could come up with was a Hispanic with scruffy facial hair and sunken cheeks. "It was pretty dark that night," he added.
His girlfriend's description was just as vague.
Next to take the stand were two men who were fishing on the other side of Shoal Line Boulevard who heard Mylle's cries for help.
They were already concerned because they had heard a shout from the top of the tower to "get down." Then they saw two people run from the bottom of the steps to a car and speed away. Mylle's shouts only confirmed their suspicion that something was very wrong.
As the BMW sped north on Shoal Line, it was followed by a Jeep that was idling at the entrance to the park. William White climbed into his Suzuki to follow those two vehicles and his friend, Andrew Pirochta, hopped into his sport utility vehicle and gave chase too.
The chase came to an end when the BMW smashed into a palm tree at Wimberly Court. The suspects bailed out. Deputies say Marquez jumped into a canal to escape, but his soaking wet clothes were hard to miss. The other suspect, Crussell, wasn't caught until later in the investigation.
Testimony on Tuesday from the duo's accomplices and friends indicated that the robbery was hatched as a way to find money for an apartment.

Correction: Jaime Marquez did not receive a life imprisonment sentence on Tuesday following the trial. He does face a lengthy prison stay for charges of robbery with a firearm and grand theft auto, but his sentence will be decided during a court hearing on Feb. 5.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com

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