Almost a year to the day after Keon Rankins and Lashanda Gates were charged with the robbery and attack of a Bristol man, their preliminary hearing was held last week.
Rankins and Gates are accused of assaulting a Bristol man and then stealing his cigarettes and cell phone from him after the assault.
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The victim, who is currently serving a sentence for a robbery of Bristol borough man, reluctantly testified at the hearing last Wednesday.
The victim at first responded to questions asked by the commonwealth with ” I do not recall.”
The Bristol man eventually relented and began to answer questions when his statement to police was shown to him.
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In describing the events, the victim said Gates showed up where he was living with his mother, knocked on the door and when he cracked the door “she kicked it in,” he testified. The witness said Rankins was behind Gates, and they both attacked him kicking and punching him down to the living room floor.
The victim said he had recently had surgery on his right shoulder and was unable to defend himself from the blitz attack.
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Prosecutor for the commonwealth asked the witness to be more specific about the attack. The Bristol man said “he kicked the sh*t out of me” with a straight face.
The victim testified the incident was “related to drugs.” Defense Attorney Louis Busico, attempted to
Bristol Borough patrolman James Ellis testified the night be responded to the call the victim told him Gates, aka “Twin,” was assaulted him.
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Ellis said borough officers know who Gates is. She lives around corner from police headquarters and he picked her up for questioning.
Gates during her interview, according to court documents and testimony, told Ellis that her accomplice was her cousin Sino Perry, which Ellis said he could not locate a person by that name when he searched public records finding the name to be false after further investigation.
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Defense Attorney Louis Busico made several spirited arguments on behalf of Rankins however they were to no avail as Bristol District Court Judge Frank W. Perenteau Sr said there was more than enough evidence to sustain the five charges against Rankins and six against Gates.
Both are charged with robbery, simple assault, theft, receiving stolen property, and disorderly conduct.
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Gates has an additional charge of falsely incriminating another and both are currently free on bond.
