GREENFIELD – An Indianapolis teen used a Greenfield man’s own gun to rob him after the pair agreed to meet up and trade firearms, according to court documents.
Nineteen-year-old Mickale Bridgeman, 6560 Hollingworth Road, Indianapolis, planned to meet the man near a local gas station to trade a handgun he owned for the man’s pistol, court documents state.
Minutes after the swap was made, Bridgeman reportedly pointed the pistol at the man, demanded he hand over his belongings — including the handgun he’d just acquired — and took off, police said.
Investigators used a cellphone number and emails the pair had exchanged to track down Bridgeman, who was arrested this week after a single Level 3 felony count of armed robbery was filed against him.
Bridgeman appeared in Hancock County Superior Court 1 on Tuesday afternoon. The charge he faces carries maximum potential penalty of 16 years in prison.
The incident happened May 10 around 2:30 p.m. at the Speedway at 815 W. Main St., police reports state.
The victim told investigators he and Bridgeman agreed to meet up to trade the victim’s 9-mm pistol for a 40-caliber handgun Bridgeman owned, court documents state.
When the exchange was done — a legal transaction, police say — they went their separate ways, with the victim walking back toward his nearby home and Bridgeman climbing into the back of a white Pontiac Grand Am that pulled away from the area.
But a short while later, Bridgeman contacted the victim and proposed another trade, the victim told police. As he walked back toward the gas station, the white Grand Am met him in an alleyway, court documents state.
Bridgeman got out of the car, pointed the gun at the victim and demanded he hand over his things, court documents state. Bridgeman then took the handgun the victim had just acquired, along with another handgun the man had had in his possession and a backpack full of various belongings, court documents state.
Police took the cellphone number the suspected robber had used to contact the victim, and they traced it back to Bridgeman, court documents state. The victim then identified Bridgeman using a driver’s license photo presented in a photo array, court documents state.
Days after the alleged robbery, the victim contacted police to report his stolen pistol was listed for sale online.
Officers contacted the seller, who told them he’d gotten the gun from Bridgeman, according to court documents. The man, too, identified Bridgeman using a driver’s license photo, officials said.
Bridgeman was arrested early Monday and booked into the Hancock County Jail. Because the courthouse was closed for Memorial Day, the teen did not appear in court for the first time until Tuesday afternoon, records show.
He was in the Hancock County Jail on $10,000 cash bond at press time.