A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man and his brother are being held on a $1 million cash bond after being charged with robbing and burglarizing a local home where they are accused of wielding a gun and stealing a television.
Atari J.D. Amos, 29, of the 1000 block of Stella and his 19-year-old brother, Alvin Rodrick Burnam of Albion, Mich., were charged Wednesday with the Class A felony of first-degree robbery, the Class B felony of first-degree burglary and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action by Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour.
After considering the complaints and probable cause statements filed with the court, Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth issued warrants for the brothers' arrests and set their bonds at $1 million cash.
Amos and Burnam are expected to appear today before Bloodworth for arraignment on the charges.
The complaints allege on Wednesday, Amos and Burnam, acting alone or knowingly in concert with another, "forcibly stole a television owned by Tasheka Dudley and in the course thereof (Amos) used a dangerous instrument," a handgun and they committed the robbery "by, with and through the knowing use, assistance and aid of a deadly weapon ..."
The complaint further alleges the brothers "knowingly entered unlawfully an inhabitable structure," located in the 800 block of Foley and possessed by Dudley, "for the purpose of committing the crime of stealing," and Dudley, who was not a participant in the crime, was present in the home at that time.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Poplar Bluff Police Department in which Dudley reported she was wakened by a loud noise at her front door at about 4 a.m.
"She went into the living room and two black males were inside her residence," Cpl. Richard Knapp said in his probable cause statement. "She knew the males as Atari Amos and a person Atari previously introduced to her as his brother from Michigan," and later identified as Burnam.
Burnam, Knapp said, allegedly pointed a "black handgun, with a red dot near the end of the barrel, at her, and (Amos and Burnam) both ordered her to the ground.
"Once on the ground, Atari demanded money from her. She told Atari she did not have any money, and Atari said 'It's the first of the month, everybody as money.'"
Knapp said Dudley pleaded with the men not to harm her or her children.
"Alvin then pointed the gun at one of her children," Knapp said. "Alvin and Atari left the residence, only to come back a few seconds later.
"When they came back, Atari called (Dudley) by name and told her he didn't want to do this, but someone told him she had some money."
The brothers, Knapp said, left the residence again.
"This time, they stole (Dudley's) 19-inch TV and left the area on foot," Knapp said.
Amos and Burnam subsequently were arrested at Amos' Stella Street residence and booked at the Butler County jail, where they continue to be held.