Man convicted of robbery

Money was stolen from pizza restaurant worker

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009

After deliberating for about three and a half hours, the jury found Stephen Covington, 23, of Temple Hills not guilty of armed robbery, but guilty of robbery, second-degree assault and theft less than $500 and he was acquitted of conspiracy of robbery, court records state.

The charges stem from a May 14 incident, in which an employee at Domino's Pizza on Church Street in Prince Frederick was robbed at gunpoint when he was pushing a trash dumpster to the alley behind the Prince Frederick Shopping Center around 10:30 p.m. He was approached by a black man who was pointing a gun yelling, "Get on the ground, give me your money," according to charging documents. The employee said he did as he was told and an undetermined amount of money was taken from him.

At the three-day trial, State Assistant Attorney Andrew Rapapport's evidence included a tape from a video surveillance camera in which detectives were able to identify Covington and a second suspect, Marcus Dwayne Spencer, 26, of St. Leonard, who has a trial date of March 3, 2010, court records state.

The state also presented evidence and photos of fingerprints, a B.B. gun pistol with CO2 cartridges and a CO2 cartridge found in the console of a vehicle. The evidence was collected by Calvert County Sheriff Office detectives from a consented search of a vehicle that was seen leaving the scene and Covington's residence, according to court records.

Public Defender Mary Katherine Fowler defended Covington and called him as a witness along with two female witnesses, one who made the 911 call the evening of the robbery and the second who was interviewed by detectives during the investigation.

Covington, who has been held on a 100 percent $100,000 bond at the Calvert County Detention Center since his arrest in May, will be sentenced Feb. 15, 2010, at 10 a.m. after a presentence investigation.

charvat@somdnews.com