Hearing Delayed for Athlete, Associate Accused of Robbery, Shooting
Hearing Delayed for Athlete, Associate Accused of Robbery, Shooting
by Contributing Editor
At the request of their attorneys, a joint arraignment for a former college football player and another man accused of trying to rob a Jurupa Valley marijuana dispensary and shooting one of the employees was postponed Thursday.
Craig Anthony Lee and John Carlton Ross, both 23, are charged with attempted murder and attempted robbery for the botched 2016 holdup at the Kings Palace Cannabis Dispensary in the 6100 block of Mission Boulevard.
The men’s attorneys asked Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Gunn for additional time to review the prosecution’s case before their clients are arraigned. Gunn rescheduled the hearing for Aug. 14 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Lee, a reserve running back for the UCLA Bruins from 2013 to 2015, was arrested last week and is being held at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside. Ross was arrested on July 9 and is being held at the Indio Jail. Bail for both defendants is set at $1 million.
Lee, Ross and another as-yet unidentified man allegedly went into the marijuana shop on the afternoon of June 30, 2016, and attempted to forcibly take an undisclosed quantity of product, according to sheriff’s investigators.
During the robbery, one of the operators of the unlicensed dispensary was shot, though it’s unclear who fired the gun. Investigators said a security guard returned fire, and the defendants fled the business, eluding deputies who converged on the location moments later.
The gunshot victim, whose identity was not released, was hospitalized and eventually recovered.
During the ensuing three-year investigation, detectives ultimately garnered sufficient evidence to identify two of the three alleged perpetrators. A warrant was issued for Lee’s arrest on June 27, and he was located three weeks later on Avalon Boulevard in Los Angeles, where he was taken into custody without a struggle. Ross was taken into custody in Corona.
Neither man has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
Lee’s family has publicly asserted his innocence.
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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com
