A man has pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in the armed robbery of a Walgreens pharmacy in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Daijahn Antwan Reed, 22, of Indianapolis, Indiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps Jr. on Tuesday, Aug. 17, to one count of armed robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Reed, who was scheduled to begin trial next week, is the third and final defendant to plead guilty in this case. Co-defendant Jerome Scott King, 22, of Speedway, Indiana, was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison without parole. Co-defendant Raymond Allen Craig, 23, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole. Although Reed and his co-defendants are aware of the identity of a fourth participant in this crime, according to court documents, none of them have identified that individual.
Reed admitted that he and three other men robbed the Walgreens at 2002 Missouri Boulevard at gunpoint shortly after midnight on July 25, 2018. Police officers arrived as the robbers were running from the business. They fled in a vehicle driven by King. As officers followed in pursuit, occupants of the vehicle began throwing items from the vehicle, including more than 4,000 tablets of various controlled substances taken during the robbery with an aggregate value of $9,264.
Multiple officers pursued the vehicle eastbound on U.S. Highway 54 into Callaway County. The Missouri State Highway Patrol deployed spike strips at the U.S. 54-AA/OO interchange. King’s vehicle began to slow, left the highway, crossed the outer road, and crashed near Jazel Lane in Holts Summit, Missouri. King and Craig were apprehended; an unidentified man escaped. Officers recovered the loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun used in the pharmacy robbery. The firearm had been stolen from Indianapolis, Indiana.
A witness called the Jefferson City Police Department at about 4:15 a.m. the same day. The witness reported that Reed, who had not made it to the getaway car after the robbery, knocked on his door and asked to use the phone. Reed spoke with the witness for several hours and admitted that he robbed the Walgreens store. The witness told officers that Reed was on the roof of the O’Reilly Auto Parts store, 1010 Missouri Blvd., in Jefferson City. Officers arrested Reed at that location.
King admitted he entered the Walgreens to conduct surveillance and then reported the number of persons inside to Craig. Craig, Reed, and the fourth individual entered the pharmacy wearing medical masks over their faces and medical-style gloves on their hands. The unidentified man displayed a firearm and confronted the store clerk. One of the thieves, whose identity could not be determined from the surveillance video, zip-tied the clerk’s hands behind his back while a firearm was pointed at his head, led him to the rear of the business near the pharmacy area and forced him down on the floor. Craig and Reed jumped over the counter and confronted the pharmacist, brandishing a firearm in a threatening manner, and removed controlled substances from the pharmacy. Both Reed and Craig handled the firearm and brandished it in a threatening manner in the direction of the pharmacist.
Under federal statutes, Reed is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole for the robbery, plus a mandatory minimum of seven years in federal prison without parole for the firearm offense, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather D. Richenberger and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
