Robbery suspect asks for trial

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GREENFIELD — A teen charged with robbing a Greenfield pharmacy wrote a note to a judge accusing his public defender of misrepresenting him in court and on Tuesday refused to sign a plea agreement he’d been scheduled to accept.

Deandre Dixon, 17, of Indianapolis, faces two Level 3 felony charges related to an attempted robbery of the CVS Pharmacy in Greenfield in September. Police say Dixon and two other teens tried to steal prescription drugs from the pharmacy, 1233 N. State St. During the robbery, one of the teens assaulted a store clerk, according to court documents.

The charges Dixon faces required him to be automatically waived into adult court.

Recently, Dixon sent at handwritten note to Hancock County Superior Court Judge Terry Snow asking that his public defender, Don Hamilton of Fortville, be removed from his case.

The letter left a pending plea agreement, which Dixon was scheduled to sign before being sentenced Tuesday, in flux. Now, Snow has set Dixon’s trial for May but has decided that Hamilton will remain the teen’s attorney until he hires private counsel.

Hamilton said the agreement Dixon was offered by Hancock County prosecutors called for the teen’s sentence to be decided by the judge. Hamilton will continue to work with prosecutors to resolve Dixon’s case with a plea agreement because a trial is a more expensive alternative, he said.

In his letter, Dixon said Hamilton approached him with a plea agreement twice, and Dixon refused to sign both documents.

Dixon told the judge that Hamilton claimed the case could not go to trial and that a plea agreement was his only option.

“I have every right to go to trial,” the teen wrote to the judge. “I do not appreciate this man manipulating me and telling me things that are untrue.”

Hamilton did not comment about the contents of his client’s letter.

Dixon faces charges of attempted robbery resulting in bodily injury and conspiracy to commit robbery, both Level 3 felonies, according to court records.

Police said Dixon entered the Greenfield CVS and handed a note to the pharmacist stating he was armed and demanding a list of narcotics, court documents state.

Before the pharmacist could react, Dixon tried to enter the blocked-off pharmacy area of the store, court documents state. Dixon grabbed a bottle of pills sitting on the pharmacy counter and tried to flee the store, court documents state.

As Dixon ran through the aisles, he encountered a store clerk. Surveillance videos from inside the store show Dixon assaulting the man, punching him in the face and using a container of laundry detergent to beat the man, court documents state.

Police said they believe Dixon left the store through the pharmacy drive-through window and climbed into a car driven by a friend, 19-year-old Rahman Glasco. Officers pulled the vehicle over near the pharmacy.

Glasco and a passenger in the car, Rakim Coleman, 17, were also charged with attempted robbery resulting in bodily injury and conspiracy to commit robbery. Their cases are pending.

The two Level 3 felony charges the teens face carry penalties of three to 16 years behind bars.