Well...in fact because he pushed an employee is the reason he is facing such harsh sentence.
QUOTE |
A Park Hills man could potentially pay a hefty price to satisfy his sweet tooth. Scott A. Masters, 41, has been charged with felony second-degree robbery after employees at a Country Mart in this town 70 miles south of St. Louis said he slipped a 52-cent doughnut into his sweat shirt without paying last December, then pushed away a clerk who tried to stop him as he fled the store. The push is being treated as minor assault, which transforms a misdemeanor shoplifting charge to a strong-armed robbery with a potential prison term of five to 15 years. Given Masters' criminal past, prosecutors could boost that sentence to 30 years to life. "Strong-arm robbery? Over a doughnut? That's impossible," Masters told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from jail. He admitted that he took the pastry but denying touching the female employee. "I've never had a violent crime in my life. And there's no way I would've pushed a woman over a doughnut." Farmington Police Chief Rick Baker said state law treats the shoplifting and assault as forcibly stealing property. The amount of force and value of the property doesn't matter. |
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 1089 100%