'I Decided I Was Gonna Fight Back,' mugging victim says
Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:08 am
Another CHLer with his head on.By Tyra Braden
The Morning Call
Wilson, PA
January 19, 2008
An Easton man testified he unholstered his handgun and slipped it into his coat pocket moments before Maurice T. Cook and Tyrone Wright tried to rob him at gunpoint. Robert Pierce Jr. said he became suspicious when Cook, 22, of Easton, and Wright, 22, of Newark, N.J., who were walking behind him, picked up their pace and narrowed the gap as all three made their way to S. 11th Street about 5:30 p.m. Dec. 4. Pierce said he didn't know either man but knew something was wrong when he heard them call out ''Yo,'' or ''Hey.'' Cook, Pierce said, pulled out a handgun, which he pressed to Pierce's back, then his head, and both men warned him to be quiet and dragged him a short distance. ''That's when I took the chance and pulled my gun,'' Pierce testified Friday during a preliminary hearing before District Judge Michael Koury of Wilson.
Pierce said he fired into the air and Wright ran. Cook returned fire and, Pierce said, appeared to be positioning himself to shoot him. Pierce said he aimed for Cook's legs and squeezed off another round. Cook, who had been shot in the abdomen, took off running. Pierce yelled to a man who had come out of a nearby market to call for help, then he walked the short distance to his fiancee's mother's home on Lehigh Street and told her to call police.
Koury sent all charges against Cook and Wright to county court. Each man is charged with robbery, aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit both crimes. Wright also is charged with giving a false name to police and Cook is charged with two firearms counts. Both remain in the county jail under $250,000 bail.
Pierce said he had left his fiancee's home on Warren Street and encountered Pierce and Cook soon after leaving. He said that during the attempted robbery, he told the two he had nothing to steal. ''They were telling me to calm down,'' Pierce said. ''Cook was saying he was gonna shoot me'' and Wright added, ''Yeah, he's gonna shoot you.'' ''I decided I was gonna fight back,'' said Pierce, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He was not charged with a crime.
Easton police officer Robert Weber testified that he was called to 1143 Washington St. for a report of a shooting victim. Weber said Cook was lying in the foyer of the building, moaning. He said Wright identified himself as Tyrone Watson and gave several Social Security numbers and dates of birth. Asked what had happened, Weber said, Wright said, ''A white guy came out and started shooting'' at him and Cook.
Detective Daniel Reagan said he interviewed Cook at St. Luke's Hospital-Fountain Hill, where he underwent surgery for his wound. ''He didn't know the individual's name,'' Reagan said. ''He said he's a white boy who hangs around Butler Street.'' Reagan said Cook told him Pierce ''said something about a female,'' and Cook ''told him to go on,'' but Pierce pulled out a gun and opened fire as Cook tried to disarm him.
Police found a .45-caliber handgun on S. 11th Street. Pierce, once at his fiancee's mother's house, said he unloaded his gun, put it in plain view and waited for police.
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