Man Who Watched Brother Die Sentenced For Botched Robbery

The man who lost his brother and was badly injured during a botched robbery in Middletown last year was sentenced to state prison Tuesday.

Justin Rose, 23, of Levittown, was ordered to spend 57 months to 10 years in a state correctional facility by President Judge Jeffrey Finley. He also was sentenced to a concurrent 10 years of probation, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

Justin Rose and his brother Shawn Rose, 24, who was shot dead in the torso by an armed customer, tried to rob Porfirio’s II Pizza in the Skyline Shopping Center in Middletown’s Levittown section last autumn around the time the shop was closing for the night. Justin Rose was struck in the neck by a bullet and barely survived. He spent months in a wheelchair after watching his brother beg for water while he died on the floor of the pizza shop.

Justin Rose pleaded guilty to robbery, conspiracy, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person before his was sentenced.

“I just remember hearing the gun going off and [Shawn] hitting the ground,” Rose said in court. “By the time I turned around, [the customer] was shooting at me, too.”

The Rose brother’s guns that they used during their botched robbery were pellet guns, but that was not known by the victims and the gun carrying customer who fired the rounds in self defense.

“What do you think happens when people run around with guns?” Finley asked Justin Rose.

“Exactly what happened,” replied Justin Rose, who said his brother masterminded the robbery plan.

The 23 year old told the judge he now suffers post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and often has flashbacks on his brother lying on the ground bleeding.

The judge made sure to remind Justin Rose the PSTD was of his own making.

The Rose brothers’ mother Robin Lynn Soto, 53, and Justin Rose’s girlfriend Chasidy Demi Ramos, 26, of Bristol Borough, were sentenced to prison earlier this year for their role in staking out the pizza shop. Ramos was pregnant at the time of the robbery.

The 35-year-old male customer who shot the Rose brothers during the robbery had an expired concealed carry permit for his Glock .45 handgun at the time of the incident. Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub told reporters last year that he would let the infraction slide after prosecutors examined the totality of the case. The customer, who did not wish to be identified by the media or authorities, did have military training and was experienced with firearms.

“Frankly, it’s lucky for you that only one person was killed,” the judge told Justin Rose during sentencing.