An Indianapolis teen transferred Thursday to the Johnson County jail from the juvenile detention center is facing adult charges for his involvement in an armed robbery Oct. 10 at a Franklin retail store.
Rushawn L. Smith, 17, is charged with aiding armed robbery, a Level 3 felony.
Jacob R. Santos, 19, is also charged with felony armed robbery, as well as battery and carrying a handgun without a license, both misdemeanors.
Dajuan A. Barnes, also 19, is charged with armed robbery.
If convicted, all three could face up to 16 years in prison on the armed robbery charge.
At about 2:57 p.m. Oct. 10, Franklin police responded to a report of an armed robbery in progress at AT&T Wireless, 1711 N. Morton St.
A store clerk told police the teens entered the store wearing blue face masks, holding trash bags and pointing guns, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Johnson County Superior Court 3.
Santos ordered the clerk to the back of the store, where the clerk opened the electronics safe for them, according to court documents.
The teens emptied the contents of the safe into their trash bags, then asked about the money vault, court documents said.
When the clerk told the teens he didn’t have the code to open the safe, one teen pistol-whipped him. Since the blow came from behind, the clerk was unsure which teen hit him, according to court documents.
The teens fled through a rear exit, taking with them “many” phones and $250 in cash, court documents said.
Police caught the teens later that day, when dispatch received a call about people throwing boxes out the window of a white Ford Focus, which fit the description of the vehicle the teens fled in, according to court documents. Santos told police the teens thought the boxes contained tracking devices, court documents said.
The teens told police they were asked separately by individuals identified only as “Trey” and “Blacksheep” in court documents to participate in the robbery. The plan was to steal the phones then sell them to “Blacksheep” when they returned to Indianapolis, the documents said.
“Blacksheep” drove one teen to Franklin, where they met the others. “Blacksheep” did not remain with the teens during the robbery, according to court documents.
A 14 year old was also in the car with Smith, Santos and Barnes, but he did not go inside the store and told police he did not know initially the others were planning to rob it, court documents said.
