A teenager carrying a revolver and wearing a hockey mask from the horror movie “Friday the 13th” was the leader in a group that robbed several Tacoma trick-or-treaters Halloween night, Pierce County prosecutors alleged Monday.
The group – five teens ages 13 to 17 – pleaded not guilty Monday to five counts of first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors charged the oldest three – Zyion Houston-Sconiers, 17; Amancio Tolbert, 16; and Treson Roberts, 16 – as adults. The two other boys, ages 13 and 15, will be tried as juveniles and are being held at Remann Hall, Pierce County’s juvenile detention center.
Houston-Sconiers and Roberts have prior burglary convictions, and Tolbert has a juvenile criminal history, prosecutors said. Superior Court Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered Houston-Sconiers jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail; Roberts was jailed in lieu of $150,000 bail; and Tolbert in lieu of $125,000 bail.
The three face up to 40 years in prison if convicted as charged, Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said.
“There will be full accountability for everyone involved in these dangerous armed robberies,” he said.
The teens are accused of using a .22-caliber handgun to rob four groups of trick-or-treaters in a 78-minute span. Court documents give this account: The teens first targeted two 14-year-olds about 9 p.m. at North Seventh and Cushman Avenue. One of the robbers pointed a gun at the kids and said,
“This is a stickup. Give me everything you’ve got.”
The trick-or-treaters handed over pillowcases filled with candy, and the teens ran off.
Ten minutes later, the group stopped a 19-year-old man trick-or-treating with his 13-year-old brother in the 900 block of South Sheridan Avenue. One of the teens had slipped on a hockey mask, and the others wore blue bandanas to cover their faces. They took candy and a devil mask from the victims and fled.
The next robbery occurred about 10:15 p.m. in the 1200 block of Ridgewood Avenue, where a man had parked his car to visit a friend. A teen in a hockey mask approached, pointed a gun at the man and demanded his wallet. The man said he didn’t have a wallet, so the teen told one of his friends to snatch the man’s cell phone off his front seat before they ran down an alley.
Six minutes later, the teens accosted a man walking down South 15th Street. They demanded the man’s cell phone and kept running.
Officers were already in the area, taking a report on one of the previous robberies, when the last 911 call came in, so they used a police dog named Oscar to track the teens to a parked Cadillac with fogged windows.
The five teens were found inside, along with the stolen items, a “Jason” hockey mask and a gun, prosecutors said.
Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653 stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
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