Teens sentenced in Rural King break-in
Published 8:29 am Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Three teenagers who broke into the Niles Rural King store in January with the intent of stealing guns were sentenced to jail time and probation Monday in Berrien County Trial Court.
Derek Bullock-Mills
Judge Dennis Wiley sentenced Darek Jamal Bullock-Mills, 19, of Niles, and Jason Dmariel Taylor, 19, of Niles, to 90 days in jail. Anthony D. Haynes, 19, of South Bend, Indiana, received a 120-day sentence.
All three were placed on probation for two years.
Wiley said what bothered him most about the incident was that the three were heading for the gun section of the store.
“Those (guns) are the types of things that, if stolen, can fall into the wrong hands and innocents can get hurt,” Wiley said. “Those guns weren’t going to be used on a hunting range anywhere.”
Anthony Haynes
All three defendants pleaded guilty earlier to felony breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny.
The incident occurred on Jan. 13 when police responded to an activated alarm at the Niles Rural King on South 11th Street around 1:13 a.m.
Police determined the store had been broken into and quickly located the suspect vehicle, resulting in the apprehension of Bullock-Mills and Haynes. Taylor escaped arrest, but turned himself in the next day.
According to court documents, the three were able to gain entrance to the store by using a crow bar. Bullock-Mills told police that they ran to the back of the store near the gun section when an alarm sounded.
Jason Taylor
They fled without taking anything.
“They were going into the Rural King to steal weapons,” said assistant prosecutor Gerald Vigansky. “Thankfully they did not.”
The attorney for Bullock-Mills said the incident resulted in his client being kicked out of Olivet College, where he was a member of the football and wrestling teams.
“Unfortunately he squandered that opportunity,” attorney Albert Mais said.
Bullock-Mills told the judge that he was “better than this” and wants an opportunity to prove it.
Joseph Fletcher, the attorney for Taylor, said his client graduated from Niles High School last year and has taken college classes.
“This is an isolated set of decisions… it is not characteristic of him,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher argued that his client was the least culpable of the three defendants and only ran from police because he was panicked.
“He contacted police the next morning and turned himself in voluntarily,” Fletcher said.
All three must pay fines and court costs exceeding $2,200.
