Deputies Use Force To Arrest Robbery Suspect After He Rolls Toward Assault Rifle

October 29, 2009

Deputies had to use force to take a  17-year old juvenile into custody last night for the robbery of Pensacola Boulevard Waffle House.

waffle10.jpgAt about 10:30, a black male later identified as Denzel James Reeves Wright, 17, entered the Waffle House on Pensacola Boulevard just north of I-10 armed with an assault rifle and  demanded and received cash from the register. He then fled the store on foot.

Deputies and a K-9 unit tracked Wright down Broad Street where the K-9 alerted on some bushes where a black male and an assault rifle could be seen.

“The suspect initially refused commands to come out of the bushes and relinquish the weapon. Deputies approached and the suspect placed the weapon on the ground next to him. As Deputies approached the suspect to handcuff him the suspect rolled toward the assault rifle as if to re-arm himself,” according to Sgt. Ted Roy, spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. “The suspect was struck in the face by deputies and then handcuffed without further incident.”

Wright will be charged with robbery with a firearm, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony and resisting arrest with violence, Roy said. He is being held without bond as a juvenile.

Investigators are reviewing videotape for previous robberies, including the Wednesday robbery of a nearby Waffle House and a Tom Thumb on Pine Forest Road, to determine if Wright might be involved in those crime, Roy said.

Comments

15 Responses to “Deputies Use Force To Arrest Robbery Suspect After He Rolls Toward Assault Rifle”

  1. Name (required) on October 29th, 2009 11:55 pm

    That POOR innocent CHILD!

    I can not Believe they hit him like that… poor thing.

    And just think, none of this would have been necessary if some bad man had not forced that bad old rifle in his hands. There ought to be a law….

    ———————-

    Give me a break!

  2. EMD on October 29th, 2009 11:09 pm

    Well said, Jim.

    When I was a kid, I tried to copy my cousin and dive through the window of my dad’s Buick, like the detective, Boston Blackie on tv. I missed and hit the divider bar between the front and back side windows. I got knocked out cold. I don’t think I even went to the doctor. Should my parents have sued Buick for my stupidity? LOL As a whole, our society has lost their collective mind. It’s at the “laundry” being brain washed. : l

  3. Jim on October 29th, 2009 10:05 pm

    Re: comment by – me on October 29th, 2009 11:41 am

    Why is it someone else that is to blame?
    Should you “GO AFTER” vehicle manufactures when someone drives like a fool and causes a wreck? How about the selling dealer or person that sold to same?
    Then there is swimming pools that kill more children than guns. GO AFTER pool builders?
    When I grew up in NW FL every boy by the fifth grade carried a pocket knife and if it wouldn’t shave the hair on your arm, you would be unusual. We whittled at recess. I am not aware of any incident where even a threat was made with a knife. We quite often had guns in our cars so we could go hunting or shooting on the way home. I never heard of a problem with a gun then either.
    Take respect for God, and punishment away and replace it with what we have now – Every one is a victim of out side forces that can not be resisted, lying is OK, stealing OK, breaking the law by cheating on taxes and some one else owes you whatever you want, the need to get away from it all with drugs and you bring us to what we see happening now.

  4. JUDY C. MASEK on October 29th, 2009 8:08 pm

    as far as WHERE he acquired his gun……its quite possible that his gun was stolen…time will tell.

  5. Bob on October 29th, 2009 5:22 pm

    He mostlikely be tried as a adult because of the severity of the crime.

  6. EMD on October 29th, 2009 3:15 pm

    Has anyone else noticed the look on almost all of these people’s faces that do these crimes day after day? They almost have the same eyes. Some angry, some sad, or both, and some, just plain empty. The countenance of their faces is haunting to me. Day after day, more and more. As a society, we are for sure “missing it, somewhere.

  7. Bell on October 29th, 2009 12:13 pm

    Why the bicycle comment. All you got to do is stop when the officers say stop. Obey and do whats right. If you’ve done nothing wrong whats the problem. Denzel should have had his picture looking like Swiss Cheeze instead of a little bandage on his lip.

  8. Jason on October 29th, 2009 12:00 pm

    This should be a lesson to all criminals. If you are going to commit a crime, you should do it inside the city limits and, instead of trying to get away on foot, you should be riding a bicycle. Since Pensacola cops aren’t going to be allowed to chase anyone as they flee on a bicycle, it’s a fool proof crime.

  9. me on October 29th, 2009 11:41 am

    The best question is where did the riffle come from ? He might have robbed the place anyway but if someone would not have givin or sold the gun it would not have been used. Uor police dept. needs to go after the ones who supply the weapons also . If they take out the bigger fish the litttle ones cant do as much harm. this boy could have killed someone.

  10. Wild Bill on October 29th, 2009 11:19 am

    Saw State Troopers parked at the crime scene along with ECSO cruisers last night on my way home from work. I never knew they responded to these type situations.

  11. robt on October 29th, 2009 11:13 am

    Is he dead? Oh; apparently not quite ENOUGH force was used.

  12. Just An Old Soldier on October 29th, 2009 10:46 am

    I forgot to add…

    Great Reporting! You are by far the best informed journalist in Escambia County. Hope to see some followups on some of your other stories as they happen. PNJ has nothing on you.

  13. Just An Old Soldier on October 29th, 2009 10:15 am

    “The suspect initially refused commands to come out of the bushes and relinquish the weapon. Deputies approached and the suspect placed the weapon on the ground next to him. As Deputies approached the suspect to handcuff him the suspect rolled toward the assault rifle as if to re-arm himself”

    In some places that would have earned getting shot dead…he lucked out on that one.

    But armed robbery with an assault rifle? Sounds like he just promoted himself to “adult”, so why charge this thug with a crime as a “juvenile”? And how did this criminal get the rifle? I hope his gun supplier is tracked down and jailed as an accessory to the crime.

  14. William on October 29th, 2009 10:06 am

    Dan H. — I’m pretty sure the sheriff’s office must always charge a juvenile as a juvenile based upon their age. The deputies can’t decide to charge them as an adult.

    Once they are arrested and the case goes to the prosecutor’s office, the prosecutors is the one that can decideto seek an upgrade in the charges to an adult status. That could happen at their initial appearance before a judge within 24 hours of arrest, or it could happen much later.

  15. Dan H. on October 29th, 2009 10:03 am

    Charged as a juvenile?

    He is alleged to have committed an
    adult level crime and should be chrged accordingly.
    How many juveniles own assault rifles?