Charleston, South Carolina

From the Charleston Post and Courier of June 4, 2005
(Requires free registration)

Merchant fires on robbery suspect

John Vereen, owner of Vereen's Grocery on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston, said he did what he had to do Friday.

A man wearing a white bandanna and brandishing a gun barged in about 2:30 p.m. and robbed Vereen and his customers.

"He got my money off of me, off a few of my customers, and then he turned around and ran out the front door," said Vereen, whose family has owned the business for 47 years.

The store owner left a handful of family members and customers inside and chased after the robber, firing four shots as the man jumped a fence behind the building.

"It was just a split instinct to chase him outside," said Vereen, explaining that he wanted to defend his family and livelihood. "I actually had my hands in my pocket and on my gun in the store, but my cousin and his kids were standing in the way."

Vereen said it took only a few minutes for North Charleston police to arrive on the scene after his wife called 911.

Within hours, police arrested three suspects in connection with the robbery, and a fourth person with the group was arrested on drug charges, said Spencer Pryor, spokesman for the department.

Ricardo Sanchez Hooks of Florida was charged with four counts of armed robbery. Charmus Bennett of North Charleston and Dewayne Cannon of Charlotte were both charged with accessory after the fact of robbery. Meiko Garland of North Charleston was charged with narcotics violations during the other three arrests.

"During today's investigation, detectives learned Hooks is wanted on robbery and murder charges by the Pinellas County sheriff and Hillsborough County sheriff" in Florida, Pryor said. He said Hooks has relatives in North Charleston.

Vereen said he might have recognized the robber if it weren't for the bandanna.

"The robber called me by my name."