Posted on 07/12/2010 5:09:20 AM PDT by marktwain
I am writing in response to Sami Hammad, the Delray Beach convenience store clerk who, in self-defense, shot and killed a ruthless armed robber, Tyrone Pinkney.
Mr. Hammad says he's sorry it happened and understandably feels bad for Pinkney's family. He said he wishes he had bulletproof glass that would have prevented the shootout. I sincerely hope Mr. Hammad will not beat himself up too badly, though. I'm sure he will be dealing with a fair amount of post-traumatic stress over the incident, but he must console himself with the fact that he saved countless lives with his actions: his own, his co-worker, his two customers and the inevitable future victims of this unrepentant killer.
If that evening had ended any other way, Pinkney would simply have moved on to his next target. Unfortunately real evil does exist in this world, and Pinkney epitomized it. He had no regard for human life, which can't be taught or rehabilitated. His track record, since the tender age of 11, shows he had no intention of stopping.
This saga did unfortunately come to a violent and abrupt end, but sometimes that is the only way to stop it. Although the authorities knew of Pinkney's guilt, he had clearly been "beating the system" for years. I hope that Mr. Hammad will once again learn to sleep peacefully, knowing that he had no choice .
(Excerpt) Read more at palmbeachpost.com ...
From all appearances, Tyrone Pinkney was nothing short of a sociopath. By the time he was shot dead Saturday in a botched robbery in Delray Beach, the 23-year-old career criminal was already suspected of killing two convenience store clerks and a bystander during robberies in West Palm Beach and Lake Worth.
They were hardly his first run-ins with guns and violence. Late last year, authorities say he shot his sister's boyfriend in the back.
He had already served two prison stints by then, released most recently in September . Before he turned 18, records show he had been arrested at least 17 times. His first arrest, on a burglary charge, came when he was 11.
Law enforcement officials knew Pinkney was dangerous and suspected he was a killer, but they couldn't keep him off the streets.
Despite his audacious actions, court records and interviews show Pinkney eluded two efforts in the past year to return him to prison, employing both luck and fear to maintain his freedom. No physical proof
Pinkney, who moved around often but appeared to have family ties to Boynton Beach, came to detectives' attention again after the deadly Nov. 13 robbery of a Lake Worth convenience store: Los Cunaos Grocery at 819 N. Dixie Highway. Killed was a clerk, Miguel Gonzalez Huicochea, 38.
Two masked men were involved, and hours later West Palm Beach police chased a similar duo after a similar convenience store robbery a few miles north. Cops caught one of the robbery suspects, but the other got away. Investigators now believe that man was Pinkney, though they could never prove it.
The captured robbery suspect, Keith Byrd, 23, confessed that he and his partner had pulled off the deadly heist in Lake Worth, but he said it was his partner who pulled the trigger. His partner, he said, was Pinkney. But no other witness could identify Pinkney, and there was no other evidence linking him to the scene.
It wasn't enough evidence to make an arrest. Pinkney walked.
Another opportunity came soon. He was arrested five days later, on Nov. 18, on an aggravated battery charge. Boynton Beach police say that on Nov. 9, he shot his sister's boyfriend, Willie Sutton, 32, in the back after an argument along Seacrest Boulevard. Sutton, who survived, identified Pinkney as his attacker, and other witnesses confirmed the account, court records show.
Pinkney was brought to jail and remained there for months on $100,000 bond. But as an April trial date approached, Sutton, the victim and star witness, got cold feet.
Sutton, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, told the state attorney's office that he would not testify in the case because he was scared, records show. Another witness also refused to testify. The charge was dropped. Pinkney was off the hook again. On April 26, he was released from jail.
Assistant State Attorney George Lagos wrote in a memo that he "did not have any other option" than to drop the charge because "I could not prove the case without either one of these witnesses." Pinkney was free for little more than a month before police say he started killing again.
On Saturday night, detectives say Pinkney walked into the Dixie Food and Beverage store on Dixie Highway in southern West Palm Beach. During a robbery attempt, he allegedly shot dead a 55-year-old clerk, Mohammad Rahman, and a customer, Felipe Rixtun-Escobar.
About 40 minutes later, police say Pinkney had driven to Delray Beach and stormed into another store: the Community Food Market on Northwest Fifth Avenue.
He pulled out a gun and opened fire on two clerks, police say. But his luck was up. A clerk grabbed a gun and fired back, striking Pinkney in the chest. With a bullet, Pinkney's intended victim had ensured he would not kill again.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-delray-shooting-20100706,0,5879919.story
It would be the best case scenario if LE could prove Pinckney was the killer in the case where he was the suspect.
Citizens who kill or apprehend violent offenders should be paid a bounty. They have saved all of us a lot of money and grief.
People who harass, threaten, or injure those who have rid us of criminal predators should be recognized as criminal accomplices themselves. This would include academicians, media and ‘advocates’ of all stripes.
Great story and very well written.
Awesome outcome....a waste of flesh put under the dirt.
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