Detroit Man Charged With Armed Robbery Of Radio Shack Stores

A federal grand jury in Detroit indicted a Detroit man on charges of robbing two Radio Shack stores at gun point, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.

McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Paul M. Abbate, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Walter Smith, 19, was charged in an indictment with two counts of Robbery Affecting Interstate Commerce and two counts of Using or Carrying a Firearm During and in Relation to a Federal Crime of Violence. The charges stem from armed robberies of a Radio Shack store in Royal Oak on June 4 and in Royal Oak Township on June 30.

According to court documents, on June 4, 2014, Smith, while armed, entered the Radio Shack located at 29160 Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak, with two other men with pantyhose pulled over their faces, wearing hats and black hooded sweatshirts.  The men duct taped the hands and eyes of two victim clerks and a store customer then departed the store with cell phones and cash from the register. On June 30, 2014, Smith, along with another male, entered the Radio Shack located at 8896 West 8 Mile Road in Royal Oak Township, lured an employee to the back of the store, placed a gun to the back of the employee and tied the employee’s hands while the other male suspects stole cell phones from the backroom.

If convicted of all charges, Smith faces a statutory mandatory minimum of thirty- two years in federal prison.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. It will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case is being worked jointly by members of the FBI Oakland County Gang and Violent Crimes Task Force; the ATF, Michigan State Police and the Roseville, Sterling Heights, Madison Heights, and Royal Oak Police Departments.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeanine Brunson.