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Yonkers resident Shawn Lucas, age 37, was sentenced on Friday, June 16 to 12 years in state prison for taking part in a 2021 armed robbery in the city, according to the Westchester County District Attorney's Office.
On the day of the robbery, Dec. 27, 2021, just before 8 p.m., Lucas followed the victim as he was entering an apartment building in Yonkers, brandished a loaded pellet gun that looked like a firearm, and demanded the victim hand over his cell phone and wallet.
The victim then proceeded to give Lucas both of these items, which contained $45, a debit card, and identification cards.
Several hours after the robbery, which was captured on surveillance video, Lucas was followed by Yonkers Police to Warburton Avenue after they tracked the victim's cell phone.
There, officers witnessed Lucas trying to give the pellet gun to another man and then engaged him in a brief chase on foot, during which Lucas fell and dropped the gun. Police were then able to recover the weapon and show it to the victim, who confirmed it was the same gun used in the robbery.
After a two-week trial in April 2023, Lucas was found guilty of the following charges:
- Second-degree robbery;
- Third-degree criminal possession of a weapon;
- Fourth-degree grand larceny.
In addition to his 12-year sentence, Lucas will also be required to serve five years of supervised release.
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah commented on Lucas's sentence.
"This was a terrifying incident for an unsuspecting victim who was coming home and held the door for someone who ultimately held him at gunpoint," she said, adding, "Thanks to cell phone technology and the Yonkers police, this defendant was apprehended right away, and convicted by a jury of his peers.”
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