‘I’ve been terrified and threatened’: Bond denied for downtown armed robbery suspect

Alert officers, with help from a witness who distracted the suspect, caught an alleged armed robber inside City Hall – next door to the police station – on Wednesday morning.

Danny Thomas Brown, 58, was charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and possession of a knife during the commission of a violent crime, according to Rock Hill police. He was placed in the Rock Hill city jail, where a judge denied bond Wednesday afternoon.

Police say Brown forced a woman at knifepoint to withdraw money from an ATM and was caught after a foot chase through downtown.

The 61-year-old victim was accosted by a male suspect with a knife around 8:10 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Dave Lyle Boulevard and Main Street, not far from the Wells Fargo bank branch, said Capt. Brent Allmon of the Rock Hill Police Department. The woman told police she was an alley off East Main Street, when a man forced the woman to go back to her car to get her purse.

When the suspect stole money from the woman’s purse and ordered the victim to go to the bank ATM to withdraw more cash, a female witness who saw the incident distracted the suspect by throwing her keys at him, police said.

The suspect fled and eventually ran across East Black Street to City Hall, where officers tackled him. City Hall and the York County Library are in a complex next door to the Rock Hill Police Department.

A detective and the 61-year-old victim asked Judge Peter Lenzi to deny bond Wednesday afternoon.

“I would prefer there’s no bond set,” the victim said. “Because I’ve been terrified and threatened that he would return tomorrow and come looking for me.”

A victim advocate told the court Brown made “several threats” toward the victim and, because of the robbery, knows personal information about her, including what kind of car she drives.

Brown’s place of residence was unclear. He gave police an address outside the city, but police were unable to verify the address Wednesday.

Brown has twice been arrested for armed robbery, in September 1987 and March 1998, according to State Law Enforcement Division records. His 1998 arrest included three counts of armed robbery, weapons charges and assault and battery with intent to kill. Those are among the nearly dozen arrests dating back to 1975 that include convictions for burglary, grand larceny and common law robbery.

“It’s my opinion, at this stage, that you present a real danger to the community,” Lenzi said before denying bond for Brown.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 9:29 AM with the headline "‘I’ve been terrified and threatened’: Bond denied for downtown armed robbery suspect."