Convicted robber to serve weekends
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Torquemada Bradley, of Selma, received a 10-year suspended sentence for two convictions of robbery 2nd degree.
The convictions stem from two separate robberies of different Cougar Oil stations that occurred on May 28 and June 5 of last year.
According to District Attorney Ed Greene, Bradley will have a five-year supervised probation period in addition to spending weekends and holidays in jail for six months.
“Armed robbery is generally thought to require a substantial prison sentence,” Greene said. He added that this would be an unusual sentence since it involves suspended sentences and weekend jail time.
Greene also said that judges consider many factors when giving sentences. Those factors include the age of the defendant, the defendant’s remorsefulness and any prior criminal record.
Circuit Court Judge Marvin Wiggins handed down Bradley’s sentence.
“We thought he should have served … something,” Greene said referring to Bradley’s interrupted sentence in jail. “Our office was disappointed because this was a very serious robbery.”
Jim Sims, general manager of Cougar Oil, agreed.
“It’s unconscionable to me that he’s not spending some time in jail,” Sims said.
Sims added that one of the employees on duty at the time of the robbery had a gun held to her head and was upset that Bradley won’t serve any uninterrupted time in prison.
According to the district attorney’s office, Bradley, along with three others, robbed Cougar Oil 11 on May 28, 2001. After making the attendant on duty open the safe they put her in the store’s cooler before leaving.
After the robbers left, the attendant pushed the alarm.
On June 5, 2001, the attendant at Cougar Oil 5 saw a man approaching the store wearing a black mask. The attendant hid behind the counter, and the man entered the store and pointed a gun at her. He asked if anyone else was in the store. She said that there was, and he brought her to the back of the store where the other employee was.
It was then that the attendant saw another man in a green mask taking money from the store. The robbers then put one attendant in the bathroom and the other in the office before leaving.