A Roxbury man was arraigned yesterday on a variety of armed robbery charges for allegedly pistol whipping a Revere man who'd journeyed to Warren Street in Roxbury to sell some pot, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
Messiah Franklin, 24, who already has a long criminal record, was waiting for the man and his girlfriend when they showed up at 312 Warren St. to sell the weed to an associate of Franklin's, the DA's office reports:
Once inside an apartment, another man - later identified as Franklin - struck the man in the head with a gun and grabbed his backpack containing marijuana. A single gunshot was fired during the altercation, and the female robbery victim initially feared the man had been shot, but the victim's head wound was determined to be caused by blunt force trauma, prosecutors said.
The DA's office reports that police obtained a warrant for Franklin's apartment:
Boston Police found two mason jars filled with marijuana, a third jar half full, a loaded Beretta .380 semiautomatic handgun, a Ruger .22 pistol that police believe was used in the robbery, ammunition for both guns, a black mask, and clothing with reddish-brown stains.
Franklin was ordered held on $75,000 bail.
The DA's office reports Franklin has drug and firearm convictions dating to 2006. In 2010, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled [2] prosecutors could use a gun Franklin had allegedly tossed over a fence as evidence against him in the 2006 case.
Innocent, etc.