“Every person deserves to feel safe where they live and work. These defendants terrorized and violently robbed innocent employees and customers,’ said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Zachary A. Myers.
INDIANAPOLIS – Crystal Daniels, Detavion Daniels, Brandon Brinson, and Aaron Collier have all be sentenced for their roles in a series of armed robberies that took place in Indianapolis.
Crystal Daniels, 23, was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to three counts of interference with commerce by robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. She was also ordered to pay $1,420 in restitution.
Detavion Daniels, 22, was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to three counts of interference with commerce by robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He was also ordered to pay $1,420 in restitution.
Brandon Brinson, 25, was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to interference with commerce by robbery and was ordered to pay a $500 fine.
Aaron Collier, 21, was sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to two counts of interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and was ordered to pay $1,420 in restitution.
According to court documents, on April 21, 2021, at approximately 3:45pm Collier, C. Daniels, and D. Daniels entered the Cricket Wireless on Arlington Avenue in Indianapolis, wearing face masks, ball caps, and carrying backpacks. C. Daniels pretended to shop while D. Daniels distracted a female employee at the service counter. Collier entered the store last, walked directly to the female employee and held her at gun point while demanding her to open the register. The trio was unsuccessful in their attempt to rob the store and quickly fled in a Chevy Suburban.
Just 15 minutes after the attempted robbery at Cricket Wireless, the trio drove 4 miles north to a Dollar General, located on N. Shadeland Avenue, to commit another robbery. At approximately 4:00pm, the three robbers entered the store, Collier brandished a black semiautomatic pistol, jumped over the counter, and forced a female employee on her knees while he held her at gunpoint, demanding her to open the registers and the safe. The other two robbers took an employe to the safe behind the counter and demanded her to open it. Once she did, C. Daniels took the money and dumped it into a yellow Dollar General bag. Additionally, D. Daniels approached a male customer standing in line and robbed him of $40 cash and GMC car keys.
Later that same day, IMPD detectives and FBI agents located the getaway Suburban parked in the parking lot of the Liquor Cabinet. The trio robbed a nearby Family Dollar, using the same process as before, and leaving in the getaway vehicle. IMPD officers conducted a traffic stop on the van and searched it. Located inside the vehicle were four suspects: getaway driver, Brandon Brinson, and all three robbers. Officers also located the following items:
a 10mm semi-automatic handgun.
Black handgun magazine containing 15 live rounds of 10mm ammunition.
6 packs of Newport cigarettes taken from the Family Dollar.
Collier’s face mask.
4 Swisher Sweet cigar packs taken from the Family Dollar.
Blue PPU box of 10mm ammunition containing 5 live rounds.
$187 in loose cash
Officers placed all four individuals under arrest and located the following cash amounts on each person:
Brinson – $521 in cash and a black ski mask.
Collier – $753 in cash
C. Daniels – $497 in cash
D. Daniels – $25 in cash
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary A. Myers and Herbert J. Stapleton, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office made the announcement.
Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash
“Every person deserves to feel safe where they live and work. These defendants terrorized and violently robbed innocent employees and customers,’ said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Zachary A. Myers. “Their violent, senseless crimes have no place in our communities, and we are safer with these individuals behind federal prison bars. I am grateful to the FBI and IMPD for ensuring that they are held accountable for their actions.”
The FBI and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Chief Judge, Tanya Walton Pratt. Judge Pratt also ordered that the defendants be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office following their release from federal prison.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant United States Attorney Lawrence D. Hilton, who prosecuted this case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
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