Tyler

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

Oscar Paul Barker has had nearly two decades of training on what to do in case of a robbery — tools that came in handy last year when the pizza delivery man was held up at gunpoint.

Tiffany Nicole Walton, 23, of Tyler, is on trial for aggravated robbery for allegedly robbing Barker on April 14, 2007. Two others have pleaded guilty to their involvement.

Barker, 44, of Gresham, testified Wednesday in 7th District Judge Kerry Russell’s court about being robbed by two people, one whom he identified in court as Ms. Walton.

A co-defendant in the case testified the robbery was Ms. Walton’s idea because she needed money to pay off fees for her misdemeanor probation case.

Barker, a manager at Mazzio’s Pizza, was delivering four pizzas on Adams Street in Tyler at about 10 p.m. on April 14, 2007. As he approached two people sitting on a dark porch, he said he saw the tip of a rifle sticking out from behind the man.

Barker asked them if they had ordered a pizza and after they replied that they did, he saw Ms. Walton reach into her pockets as if digging for money while the man, whom he later identified as Narauda Jermaine Thompson, pointed the gun at him, he said.

Ms. Walton and Thompson allegedly began yelling at him to give them his money. “He’ll shoot. We’re going to kill you. We want your money,” he said the woman told him.

Barker reportedly handed the gunman his wallet and he handed it to the woman. The robbers then told him they thought he had more money and they wanted it. He said he reached into his pocket and grabbed more cash and threw it at them.

The man then ordered him to the ground and, as he lied on his stomach, Thompson put the gun to his neck and demanded more money, he said. Barker took a few more bills out of his pocket and threw it at them; then they ran off, he said.

Barker called 911 and gave dispatchers a description of the two people and which way they were running. While talking to Tyler police officers later at the scene, he was asked if he could identify the suspects. Barker was taken to a convenience store on Gentry Parkway, where three suspects were in patrol cars. He said he identified Ms. Walton and Thompson as the people who robbed him, but a third woman he had never seen. He said he also identified his wallet in the backseat of the car the suspects had been found driving.

One hundred and twenty-six dollars had been taken from him, he said.

Barker has gone through training for about 18 years, when he got into the restaurant business, about what to do in case of a robbery. He said he paid close attention to detail during the holdup so he could identify his attackers.

When questioned by defense attorney Kurt Noell, Barker said his memory was as good now as it was the night of the robbery.

“I can remember that gun sticking in the back of my neck,” he said. “That will always be there.”

He said he didn’t need to watch video, taken from a police car, of himself identifying the two suspects because he remembered how he pointed out Ms. Walton and Thompson and said he was never going to forget what they looked like.

The jurors were shown the video footage anyway by Noell. When asked if he actually identified three people instead of two, Barker repeatedly replied that he only identified two people.

Barker said he still thinks about the night of the robbery.

“I’m one of the lucky ones who walked away … And one of these days, somebody’s going to pay.”

Thompson, 22, of Tyler, testified he and Ms. Walton robbed Barker while his girlfriend, Sharonda Hampton, 23, waited for them in a nearby car and knew nothing of the robbery.

Ms. Hampton pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery on Monday and awaits sentencing.

Thompson also pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and has been sentenced to 40 years in prison by the judge.

Thompson said he was at Ms. Hampton’s house on April 14, 2007, when Ms. Walton called and told him she had a plan to rob a pizza delivery man because she needed money for probation fees.

Smith County records show Ms. Walton was on probation for the misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license.

Since neither of them had a car, Thompson said he gave an excuse to Ms. Hampton to drive them around and, without her knowing it, he put a rifle, which belonged to Ms. Walton, in the car.

Thompson said he called and ordered a pizza; then when the delivery man showed up, he pointed the gun at him while Ms. Walton ordered the man to give them his money. When they ran back to the car, Ms. Hampton acted scared and nervous and wanted to know what they had done, he said. She drove them to a nearby club, where Thompson put the rifle in the trunk and began driving the car. He said Ms. Walton appeared happy because they had succeeded in the robbery.

After being caught by police that night, Thompson said he wasn’t truthful and denied being involved in the holdup. He finally told them the truth because he “ran out of lies.”

Thompson said he had smoked PCP earlier in the day of the robbery, which occurred one month after his and Ms. Hampton’s daughter was born.

He said Ms. Hampton didn’t have anything to do with the robbery “as far as planning it.” He said he didn’t want Ms. Hampton to “go down” for something she didn’t do. But, he said, he wasn’t lying about Ms. Walton to help out Ms. Hampton.

Thompson has a prior felony credit card abuse conviction, as well as three misdemeanor thefts.

Also on Wednesday, several law enforcement officers testified about how they located and arrested the suspects the night of the robbery and how the victim’s wallet, cash and the rifle were found in their vehicle.

Assistant Smith County district attorneys Richard Vance and Greg Cole are prosecuting the case, which will resume on Thursday.