Security Guard Headed To Trial After Shooting, Injuring Robbery Suspect
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – John Carter, a private security guard from Verona, was ordered to stand trial on charges he shot a would be robber without justification.
Surveillance video helped the judge make that decision.
The first witness on the stand at his preliminary hearing was PAT bus driver Tamika Bundy, who testified her bus, like most, has several surveillance cameras. And that when she drove her bus down Hamilton Avenue in Homewood last October, she saw something strange.
She saw someone trying to take a bag loose from the crate of a truck and then started running.
Then she heard a gunshot and saw a security guard fire at the would be robber who can be seen staggering in the video.
The problem for investigators, though is the robber, who sustained an entrance wound in the buttocks, and an exit wound through the abdomen, never came at or fired at the security guard, Carter.
Carter faces charges including aggravated assault and reckless endangerment for firing at the suspect, Edward Brown. Brown waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the theft charges recently. Brown told police he was unarmed.
It all happened outside Baker's Market, where a Triangle Candy and Tobacco delivery truck was making a delivery and was robbed of cash.
Carter's lawyer, Steve Townsend, disagrees with the prosecutor's decision.
"My concern is the wrong man was charged in this case," Townsend said. "The unfortunate issue with this is we have to wait to go to trial before we can resolve these issues."
The defense also takes issue with the prosecution's use of the video.
"There's several seconds between the bus driver can see what happens and the video is actually recording what happens between the back of the truck into the front of the truck," says Townsend.
Even so, the judge ruled there was enough evidence to send the case to trial.
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