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<p><strong>From staff reports</strong></p>
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<p>A former fast-food restaurant employee, who robbed McDonald’s at gunpoint and forced its employees into a walk-in freezer, is headed to prison.</p>
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<p>Levy Larkin Brown, 25, of Burton, was found guilty Friday of armed robbery following a two-day jury trial at the Beaufort County Courthouse. Brown was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his role in the July 15, 2018 armed robbery of McDonald’s at 850 Parris Island Gateway in Port Royal.</p>
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<p>“Mr. Brown planned this from start to finish,” 14th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Jared Shedd said. “He scoped out the restaurant before the robbery and had little regard for the store’s employees while inside.”</p>
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<p>Just before 11 p.m., a security camera captured two masked men wearing all black and carrying handguns as they entered the restaurant’s unlocked side door. They demanded the nightly deposit bags from the store’s manager, then forced her and several other employees into a freezer.</p>
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<p>Police tracking dogs found a $10 bill and a pair of black and white sneakers near the crime scene. The sneakers match the ones seen on camera worn by one of the robbers.</p>
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<p>Shortly after the robbery, a shoeless Brown is seen buying a drink at a gas station next to McDonald’s. A witness identifies Brown at a nearby apartment complex a brief time later. He was sweating, out of breath and without shoes.</p>
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<p>Brown is one of three defendants charged in connection to the McDonald’s robbery. Charges against Shanya Joanna Higgins and DeQuan Blue are still pending. They are innocent until and unless proven otherwise in court.</p>
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<p>Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen handed down Friday’s sentence</p>
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