A Conway man charged with aggravated robbery failed to persuade Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson to reduce his $25,000 bail after the judge heard testimony he'd also admitted to being the robber.
Derrick L. Lasker of Conway was arrested seven minutes after the May 11 holdup at the Sonic restaurant at 13200 Crystal Hill Road, North Little Rock detective Dane Pedersen testified. After a brief foot chase, he was arrested at the intersection of Arkansas 100 and Riverpointe Drive, less than a half-mile from the restaurant where he used to work, according to testimony. He was wearing liquor-patterned pajama pants that matched the description of the pants worn by the robber.
Lasker had caught the attention of officers heading to investigate an armed robbery report at Sonic when they saw the pajama bottoms the 28-year-old was wearing, Pedersen told the judge. He said they had a "distinctive" Jack Daniels pattern.
Two Sonic employees, Gabrielle Zapata and Holly Main, said they'd just opened for the day when the robber, his face obscured with a black rag, came inside, indicating he had a gun in the waistband of his pants, which the workers described in a 911 call, Pedersen said. Neither saw a weapon, he said.
The robber demanded money and made the two lie on the floor before grabbing some of the restaurant's coin changers and fleeing.
Lasker told the detective he used to work at the Sonic and knew where they put the coin-changers, Pedersen said. He denied being armed, but said he had his right index finger pressed to his waist to give the impression he had a pistol in his pants, the detective said.
Pedersen said he believed Lasker's statement about being unarmed. Lasker told him that he'd been living in Maumelle near the restaurant with his girlfriend and had decided to walk from her residence to the Sonic and rob it, the detective said.
Store surveillance video of the holdup is not available, Pedersen said. He asked for a copy on the day of the robbery and did not know why it had been recorded over, he told the judge.
Testifying on Lasker's behalf was his aunt Linda Lovelace of Conway, who told the judge he'd be living with her if his bail was reduced to an affordable amount. She said she, his mother and grandmother would make sure he came to court and got a job while waiting for the criminal charges to be resolved. Lasker is a "good kid" who comes from a "no-nonsense family," but "something went wrong," she told the judge.
He'd moved out of her home a couple of months before the holdup, she said. Lasker had usually been employed, she told the judge, saying he'd first worked at a Conway Sonic and had a job at Coca-Cola before that. Lasker did not testify.
Defense attorney Lou Marczuk asked for $7,500 bail, citing Lasker's lack of serious criminal history and saying he thought he could get the charges reduced to simple robbery since no gun was actually used.
Deputy prosecutor Kelly Ward opposed reduced bail, questioning whether a lower amount would be sufficient to guarantee Lasker would attend his court hearings and follow court orders.
Metro on 07/18/2015