Man With BB Gun Charged in Attempted Parking Lot Robbery

A 19-year-old Milwaukee man was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Friday with one count of attempted armed robbery after police said he was tried to rob a man with a BB gun in the parking lot of Kmart on Tuesday.

If convicted, Charles A. Davis faces up to 20 years in prison and $50,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint at 9:16 p.m. Tuesday, the victim was walking out of Kmart to his car where he put his items on the trunk. He told police as he did that Davis approached with a goofy smile, then lift up the corner of his shirt to reveal a handgun in the waistband.

The victim assumed he was about to get robbed, according to the complaint, and figured Davis was probably going to take his Ford Mustang. Another man, however, came running towards Davis, who then turned and fled toward Burger King, the complaint said.

The man continued to chase Davis, who at one point pulled out the gun and flashed it at the chaser, according to the complaint. Davis fled to the Supreme Gas Station, where he was later found and arrested by a Greenfield Police officer while trying to hide by the dumpsters.

The gun was lying nearby and was identified as a realistic looking BB gun, according to the complaint.

The man who chased Davis said he works in a high-crime area and when he saw Davis approaching the victim he thought he was going to rob him, the complaint said, and when he saw Davis move to flash a gun, the man knew he needed to jump in to assist.

Davis told a much different account of the events to investigators, saying he was in the area because his car was stolen the day before and figured it might be parked in the Kmart parking lot, according to the complaint. He told police he had the gun in case the people who stole his car were there.

Davis also told police he saw the victim and another man walking out of Kmart, and he thought he smelled marijuana on the victim, so he followed him to the car and said “you got that,” which is slang to purchase “dank” marijuana, the complaint said. Davis told police the man reached into his car and Davis thought he was getting a gun, so he flashed his for protection, then saw the other man running toward him.

Davis also said he pointed the gun at man who chased him, according to the complaint, because he thought there was something shiny in his hand during the chase.

Davis is currently being held in Milwaukee County Jail while awaiting trial.