A Butler County grand jury returned indictments for aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping, carrying a concealed weapon and two counts of tampering with evidence against Nicholas and aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping and failure to comply with the signal of a police officer against Patrick.
In July, the 24-year-old brothers each pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery with a one-year gun specification. The remainder of the charges were dismissed.
Butler County Common Pleas Judge Noah Powers III sentenced Nicholas to 10 to 13 years in prison and Patrick to 9 to 12 years in prison. Police say Nicholas had the gun when the duo committed the robbery and tied up the employees.
According to Middletown Detective Ken Mynhier, the brothers admitted to driving to Middletown for the robbery after choosing the location from a list on the internet.
The pair was caught shortly after the robbery when their vehicle crashed crossing the Ohio 122 bridge during a short pursuit.
During the robbery, Nicholas held the gun and told the two employees “not to do anything stupid,” Mynhier said. Twist ties used to bind the hands of the clerk and pharmacist were visible in Patrick’s pocket in video of the robbery.
The pills were dumped into a pillow case, and the suspects ran, police said. The employees were able to free themselves, lock the door and call for help.
Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Scott Bissell said DNA obtained after the Middletown arrest led to two other investigations of similar crimes in Ohio. Mynhier said he was contacted by detectives in Garfield Heights near Cleveland concerning a robbery investigation.
“Since neither of them had ever been convicted of a crime, obviously their DNA had never been taken,” Mynhier said. “This detective was investigating the robbery of a CVS up there in which some clothing had been discarded.”
After the arrest of the brothers, DNA from the clothing matched DNA taken from Nicholas Johnson-Tucker, Mynhier said. He added there may be a DNA connected to another robbery in Ohio.
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