Teen's robbery case transferred

Runaway from San Diego tells judge he learned lesson

A California teenager who ended up in Little Rock while running away from home admitted Friday to participating in a March armed robbery of a Sonic restaurant with his cousin.

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But Maurice Dewayne Dudley's aggravated robbery and theft charges were transferred to juvenile court after he testified he's learned his lesson from spending the past 64 days in jail. Under the transfer conditions set by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson, the 17-year-old Dudley could end up being sentenced to prison under the Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction Act if he's not been deemed rehabilitated by age 21.

"I've changed my ways. I was mad at the world when I should be mad at myself," Dudley told the judge. "I realized this is not for me."

Dudley and 19-year-old Gregory Paul Foster of North Little Rock were arrested shortly after an early-morning March holdup at the Geyer Springs Road restaurant, Detective Julio Gil testified. They had the restaurant's daily deposit -- held in a plastic zipper storage bag -- and the officers who chased them found a handgun in their wake, a weapon that matched the description of one of the guns that the robbers used, Gil said. Both robbers had pistols, he told the judge.

"It was very aggressive, very physical," he said, describing how the robbers swept in and forced workers to the back of the restaurant. "You can see on the video how violent it was."

Dudley admitted to his role in the holdup, including pointing a gun at the employees, Gil testified. The teen has no prior criminal history.

Testifying Friday, Dudley again admitted to the holdup, acknowledging that he had pointed a loaded gun at workers, including manager April Miller.

He told the judge he had gotten a one-way bus ticket from his San Diego home to escape his problems at school and home. Foster talked him into leaving San Diego, he said during questioning by his attorney, Lott Rolfe IV. He said the two of them lived on the street after getting kicked out of Foster's grandmother's home.

Dudley said Foster came up with the idea to rob the Sonic when Dudley lost all of the money he had brought with him from California in the woods behind Sonic. He said Foster found the weapon.

"I was scared to call my parents because they didn't know where I was," Dudley told the judge. "It was a wrong decision. We had smoked [marijuana], and I let the drugs go to my head."

Deputy prosecutor Phillip Underwood challenged Dudley's version of events, accusing the teenager of changing his story to shift blame to Foster. Dudley didn't tell police that he and Foster were related, and he initially told officers that he had found the gun. But Dudley said he accepted responsibility for his role.

"I don't want to blame it on him. It was my choice to go along with him," he said. "I was doing my part so I could get money for myself. I was just worried about me."

Police described the robbery as organized and planned, with each gunman sweeping down a side of the restaurant and forcing workers into the back of the store where the robbers demanded access to the safe, Underwood said, saying he was skeptical of Dudley's story that the cousins didn't plot the holdup and that he just followed Foster inside.

Testifying on Dudley's behalf, his mother, Wordia Burnett, told the judge he'd been suspended from school and they had quarreled. She said she didn't know he was in Little Rock until police called her.

Dudley has never been to Little Rock and has no family here, she said. She brought letters from 20 character references for the judge.

Another cousin, Murray Foster of San Diego, choked up when he talked about how compassionate and helpful Dudley is to his family. Foster, who said Gregory Foster is his nephew, said he was "shocked and bewildered" that Dudley had been arrested. He asked the judge to transfer the charges to juvenile court to give the teenager the opportunity to resolve his problems, saying the family did not realize how upset Dudley had been.

Metro on 05/30/2015

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