It began as an investigation into the armed holdup of an attendant at the Texaco Gas Station at the corner of Central American Boulevard and Cemetery Road on Saturday night. It was however anything but a routine robbery investigation since two bystanders were shot during the commission of the crime. Later it became a drug trafficking investigation when police found a parcel of suspected cocaine hidden inside one of the robbery victims' car. And tonight new information is that there was no drugs involved, at least no real drugs, since the parcel did not contain cocaine. But still two alleged innocent bystanders were injured and a gas attendant, who claims he was the victim, spent the weekend in police custody. Today Keith Swift tried to put the story together.
Keith Swift Reporting, Email - [keithkswift@gmail.com]
22-year-old Paul Lopez was on duty as an
attendant here at this Texaco Gas Station on Saturday night when he claims he was attacked by two gunmen wearing masks. Lopez claims the men held him by his neck and robbed him of $200.
But there's a intriguing twist to what would have been the story of a straight forward jacking. And that twist is 41-year-old Lawrence Mckoy. This is Mckoy
leaving the KHMH this morning and entering police custody. Mckoy who is a farmer from Silk Grass Village was injured in his upper left thigh during Saturday night's robbery. Mckoy says he was simply filling up gas and was in the wrong place at the wrong time
And then there is this Toyota Camry
and its driver Wayne Davis. Davis is attendant Paul Lopez's stepfather and he was also shot on Saturday night at the gas station. He too was just filling up gas alongside his cousin Wayne Davis. And it's in his Camry that police found a bag of suspected cocaine.
It's a strange set of coincidences: the gas attendant Paul Lopez robbed of his day's sales; his stepfather Wayne Davis and Lawrence Mckoy, both bystanders, shot. And of course there was the parcel of suspected cocaine found in Davis' car.
Police had detained all three for questioning. Paul Lopez was finally released this afternoon after spending the entire weekend in police custody. Lopez's family says that eventhough he was deported from the United States for drug trafficking last year - he is the one who was robbed on the job. Orlando Diaz is Paul's uncle.
Orlando Diaz,
"He was on the job and I heard he got robbed and all that. I know he ain't no drug dealer. He is a deportee, he used to sell drugs, but he ain't no drug dealer no more. The car which they found drugs in, is not his. You know? My nephew got blamed for something he didn't do. That is all I gotta say but the cops have to release him."
Paul Lopez was released this afternoon without being charged. And eventhough it turns out that the substance was not cocaine, police tell 7NEWS that they intend to charge both Wayne Davis and Lawrence Mckoy for pretending it was. It is a crime which carries the same penalty as if it was a real controlled substance.
