SALINE CO.—An alleged, daring, daylight armed robbery caught the attention of law enforcement and citizens all across several counties on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 3, when word of the incident was broadcast across scanner traffic.
That scanner traffic revealed that on April 3 at 2:52 p.m., Saline County dispatch received a call from Jermaine Lee, who advised that he had just been robbed at gunpoint at 4445 Muddy Rd., Apt. 2D.
Lee said that three black men, driving a black Pontiac passenger car with tinted windows, had fled and were headed in the direction of Harrisburg on Rte. 13.
Chief Deputy Ken Clore located the vehicle on old Rte. 13 at the Highway 34 bypass.
Sheriff Keith Brown, in a rare display of energy, happened to be in the area and attempted a vehicle stop but failed, only managing to initiate a high-speed chase, which reached speeds in excess of 100 mph.
That was about the time lawmen lost sight of the vehicle on old Rte. 13 near Carrier Mills Road and terminated the pursuit.
The Pontiac was spotted a short time later westbound on new Rte. 13 in Williamson County by a Secretary of State Police officer, who accomplished what the not-so-good sheriff Brown could not and that was a traffic stop on the east side of Marion, just west of the FS station on Ill. Rte 13.
Three black males were taken into custody and identified as Kashmere Ahmed Barners, Collin Joseph Crim and Paul Eugene Marshall Jr., each of them 19 years of age.
With sheriff Brown tucked safely back under whatever rock he spends most of his days, the trio was quickly transported back to Saline County.
When interviewed, Lee told officers that Barners, Crim and Marshall were at his apartment and that Marshall showed a handgun tucked in the waistband of the pants he was wearing.
Lee said Marshall pulled his gun and Crim pulled a gun out of his pocket and handed it to Marshall.
With a gun in each hand, Lee said Marshall pointed them at him, at the ground and back at him about three times while demanding money.
Lee said he gave $960 to Barners and the three left in the Pontiac.
Both Marshall and Crim admitted displaying handguns during the robbery.
Lee picked both men out of a photo line-up as the ones who robbed him.
It is unclear if there was a positive ID by Lee of Barners.
Collin Joseph Crim, of 323 East Washington St., Harrisburg, Kash Barners, of 811 South Main, St., Harrisburg and Paul Eugene Marshall, of 120 East Walnut St., Carrier Mills were all formally charged with Armed Robbery with a Firearm.
Marshall has an outstanding case wherein he was charged in 2010 with two counts of Forgery, one count of Obstruction of Justice, Driving Revoked, Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, DUI Drugs, Unlawful Possession of Cannabis and Following too Close.
In February 2012 he was convicted of Burglary and sentenced to 30 months probation (which his latest arrest screws up) and ordered to pay $3,844.50 in fines, fees and restitution, of which he still owes $2,649.50
On his affidavit or assets and liabilities, the unemployed Kashmere Ahmed Barners put down “yea” for marital status and a 499 prefix phone number under number of dependents.
The unemployed Marshall also faces a single count of Unlawful Possession of Weapons by a Felon.
The equally-jobless Crim (no pun intended), along with his alleged partners in crime, are being held on $25,000 cash bond each.
One witness to the trio’s recent first reading of their charges in a courtroom said to a man they all looked like they were ready to pee their pants when the judge informed them they could spend up to 20+ years in prison for the alleged crime. Thus far, there’s not been an explanation put forth as to how—or even if—the trio knew Lee had such a sum of money on him; how they knew he would be at that location with the sum of money, or how they even conceived of the idea in the first place. Without a jury trial or short of that, a plea with stipulation, the public may never learn it.