A Wilmington man was sentenced to more than a year in prison for the May 2014 robbery of a taxi driver.
Tyree Alfonza Davis, 21, pleaded of guilty to common law robbery in New Hanover County Superior Court on Wednesday, according to Samantha Dooies, assistant to District Attorney Ben David. Superior Court Judge Phyllis Gorham sentenced Davis to 15-27 months in the N.C. Department of Corrections.
The robbery occurred after a driver for Kat’s Taxi was dispatched to pick up a man at Russell’s Quick Stop on Wrightsville Avenue just after midnight May 15, 2014, Dooies said.
On the way to his destination, Davis pulled what appeared to be a handgun or an Airsoft gun and demanded money and a cell phone from the cab driver. Davis ran from the scene with the victim’s property, Dooies said.
“The defendant was traced through the phone number he used to call for the taxi, and he was later apprehended after a foot chase in Creekwood by officer Peter Schwarz with the Wilmington Police Department,” Dooies said.
The victim in this case was familiar with firearms and he believed that the weapon used that night could have been an Airsoft gun, which is not classified as a deadly weapon under North Carolina Law, Assistant District Attorney Connie Jordan said.
No firearm was recovered during the investigation, Dooies said.
