Are ‘eyes, nose and skin tone’ enough to ID, charge SC teen for armed robberies?
When Rock Hill police arrested a 16-year-old boy Feb. 2 for an alleged armed crime spree, the only identification of the suspect detectives had was his “eyes, nose, and skin tone,” his defense lawyer said in court Tuesday.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers debated in York County Family Court Tuesday whether those features alone were enough for Rock Hill Police Department detectives to make an arrest. Two stores and a man at an ATM were robbed at gunpoint over a four-day span in late January and early February.
The Herald is not identifying the 16-year-old because of his age and a court order preventing identification of the teen. The Herald was the only media organization in court Tuesday.
The 16-year-old teen was arrested Feb. 2 for armed robberies at a 7-Eleven on Jan. 28 and Budiman’s smoke shop on Feb. 1 in which three suspects were involved. In between those, authorities say, the teen used a gun when he robbed a man of more than $300 on Jan. 30 at an ATM on Ebenezer Road.
The 16-year-old is charged as a juvenile with three armed robberies, weapons crimes and kidnapping. In one of the robberies at a smoke shop, a victim was bound with duct tape, prosecutors said.
The arrested teen is on probation after a 2023 conviction as a juvenile for stealing a car, prosecutors said.
The teen has not been convicted of any crime connected to the robberies, and his lawyer argued that police did not have enough evidence based on partial face features to arrest him.
Are eyes, nose and skin tone enough?
Visiting Family Court Judge W. Marsh Robertson of Greenville ruled police had enough probable cause to arrest the teen and the case could move forward. But Robertson said Tuesday afternoon’s court hearing over probable cause was not a trial.
“We are not here to decide if this juvenile is guilty,” Robertson said.
Rock Hill police detective Dustin Ochiltree said the teen was responsible for “a rash of armed robberies.”
Police arrested the 16-year-old at a Cherokee Avenue duplex on Feb. 2 after another detective identified the teen using photos from the smoke shop robbery surveillance video, Ochiltree testified Tuesday.
Victims in the cases identified the suspect as Hispanic, light-skinned or Middle Eastern, police and prosecutors said in court. However, the suspect’s identity was hidden each time by a mask or article of clothing over much of his face, authorities said.
The smoke shop video was played in court Tuesday. It showed three masked suspects, all males, stealing from the store.
A school resource officer at Northwestern High School, where the teen had been a student, also recognized the suspect, Ochiltree testified.
On Feb. 2 police recovered a gun, sneakers, clothes and a mask from the duplex where the teen was arrested that match the robbery video, 16th Circuit Senior Solicitor Erin Joyner told Judge Robertson.
Joyner said the teen had a gun and clothing that matched the suspect description, including the same pattern and style of pants as one suspect in the smoke shop robbery. It is illegal for anyone under age 18 to possess a handgun in South Carolina, and it’s unclear where that gun came from.
But Arthur Hays, the teen’s lawyer from the 16th Circuit Public Defender’s Office, argued law enforcement did not have enough probable cause to arrest the teen based only on “eyes, nose and skin tone.” There were no witness identifications or police line-ups and “millions of people” have similar clothes and Air Jordans sneakers, Hays argued.
What’s more, police have not identified or arrested two others seen on robbery videos as being involved in the 7-Eleven and smoke shop robberies, Hays said.
“They have one officer saying ‘I recognize that person’s nose,’” Hays argued. “All of this seems to be hanging on one officer.”
Judge decides if teen stays in jail
After the judge ruled on probable cause, he then ruled the 16-year-old should stay jailed before a trial.
Joyner, the prosecutor, argued public safety is at risk if the teen is released.
“He leaves home and he commits crimes,” Joyner said of the 16-year-old.
The 16-year-old suspect has been at a S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice jail since his arrest Feb. 2. A DJJ official said in court the agency believes the teen should stay jailed pending trial.
Hays argued the teen is not a threat to the public and should be released.
Judge Robertson disagreed and kept the 16-year-old in custody.
“It is in the best interest of both the child and the community that he remain in detention,” Robertson ruled.
The 16-year-old suspect was in court, but did not speak. His father was in court in the gallery but also did not speak during the hearing. The father and son embraced in court before the teen was led off to a holding cell by bailiffs.
What happens next?
The teen is charged as a juvenile. As the case stands now, any Family Court conviction would have a sentence that ends at age 22.
Family Court cases in South Carolina do not have jury trials. A judge would determine if the teen is guilty, and any punishment if there is a guilty finding. No juvenile court trial date has been set.
The investigation into the three armed robberies remains ongoing including efforts to identify the two other suspects from the 7-Eleven and smoke shop robberies, Rock Hill police Lt. Michael Chavis said after court.
