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Randy Halprin
Posted on 06/02/2003 1:33:07 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Trial starts for prison escapee
06/02/2003
Prosecutors reconstructed an Irving police officer's final moments on Christmas Eve 2000 as the latest death penalty trial began Monday morning for one of the prison escapees accused of killing the officer during a botched robbery.
Prosecutor Toby Shook detailed how the seven escapees -- including defendant Randy Halprin -- broke out of the Connally Unit prison near San Antonio on Dec. 13, 2000, and ended up in the Dallas area in late December to perform a daring and elaborate robbery of an Oshman’s SuperSports USA store in Irving.
Some of the men posed as security officers and others -- including Mr. Halprin -- pretended to be shoppers while employees prepared to close the store. All of the men were carrying guns and communicated with walkie-talkies. Officer Aubrey Hawkins was on a break and finishing a holiday dinner with his wife, 9-year-old son, mother and grandmother at a restaurant across State Highway 183 from the store as it was being robbed.
Randy Halprin |
The 29-year-old officer went to investigate a report of "suspicious activity" and arrived at the store as the robbers were packing up. He parked behind a stolen Ford Explorer that the group was using as a getaway vehicle.
"He drives right into an ambush, and he doesn't have a chance," Mr. Shook said.
The officer, who had worked in Irving less than two years, was shot 11 times from several directions and never had time to draw his weapon, Mr. Shook said.
The men ran over the officer with the SUV, dragging him 10 feet, as they fled from the store with about $70,000 in cash, 44 guns, clothing and ammunition. They were arrested weeks later after a neighbor in an RV park near Colorado Springs where they had been staying recognized them from TV reports and alerted authorities.
In opening arguments, Mr. Halprin’s attorney George Ashford III described his client as a naïve young man who became a mentor to the gang’s leader, George Rivas, as a way to survive while in prison. Mr. Halprin was 18 when he was arrested for injury to a child in Tarrant County and 19 when he was sent to the Connally Unit, he said.
Aubrey Hawkins |
Mr. Ashford did not dispute that Mr. Halprin took part in the robbery but argued that Mr. Halprin did not fire any of the shots that killed the officer.
"That weapon went inside his pocket, and it remained there the whole time," he said.
Like the other five charged with capital murder for the officer’s death, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Mr. Halprin. Four others -- George Rivas, Donald Newbury, Michael Rodriguez and Joseph Garcia -- have already been prosecuted and sentenced to death. The last defendant -- Patrick Murphy Jr.-- faces trial later this year. The seventh member of the gang committed suicide before officers could arrest him.
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