Jackson sentenced Pitts to 90 days in jail with jail time credit for 64 days served, sentencing documents show.
Shortly after 5:30 p.m. Feb. 14, Pitts entered Esther Price Candies at 1709 Wayne Ave., wearing pantyhose over his face and hands when he approached a cashier and handed a note that read: “This is not a joke! Put all of the money that you have in your cash register into this bag or else!”
When the cashier read the note, she shouted, “You’re not going to rob me, you need to get out of here” and threw the note in the trash, according to the Dayton Police Department and court records.
Dayton police apprehended Pitts about 20 minutes later when another employee called 911 when she saw him while walking home. During an interview with police, Pitts said he was homeless, had been drinking and wanted to get money for a motel.
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
The cashier testified that she was not in fear when Pitts handed her the note and she yelled at him to leave. However, she said that after he left, she “was shaken and upset when she realized what could have happened.”
The judge in her ruling stated that “because Mr. Pitts did not make an explicit threat of immediate harm … the court must look to additional factors to determine the nature of the threat including, but not limited to, Mr. Pitts’ demeanor, (the cashier’s) state of mind, and the effect of the threat.
“Mr. Pitts used a note with the phrase ‘or else.’ He did not have a weapon or pretend to have a weapon. He engaged in no aggressive or threatening gestures, he did not say anything to (the cashier) and there was nothing about his demeanor that made (the cashier) feel threatened. The store footage reflects that none of the customers, even those standing right next to Mr. Pitts, left the store or moved away from him when (the cashier) began to yell. … After (the cashier) refused to give Mr. Pitts the money, he left without incident.”
Jackson said she found Pitts not guilty of robbery because there is reasonable doubt whether he threatened the immediate use of force, but guilty of the lesser-included offense of attempted theft, a second-degree misdemeanor.
A request for comment was made to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.
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