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Posted on Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 12:30 p.m.

Ann Arbor police arrest 2 suspected of robbing delivery driver, attempting to rob another

By Kyle Feldscher

hugan.jpg

Anthony Demario Hugan

Courtesy of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office

Two teenagers are being held in the Washtenaw County Jail after being charged with robbing a Bell’s Pizza delivery driver and attempting to do the same to a Happy Wok driver last week.

Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush said Anthony Demario Hugan, 18, and Jeffrey Howell, 17, were arrested at a home in the 2700 block of Adrienne Drive Monday. They were each arraigned on four felony charges Tuesday at the Washtenaw County Jail, where they are currently lodged on 10 percent of $15,000 bond, according to court records.

The arrests are the second and third Ann Arbor police have made for armed robbery in less than a week. Jason Davis, 41, was arrested and accused of robbing both a Circle K and a Denny’s location on April 14 and April 15. He’s been charged with two counts of armed robbery and is being held on a $50,000 cash or surety bond, according to police.

Hugan and Howell each face a charge of armed robbery, two counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted armed robbery, Bush said. If convicted, they each face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Hugan and Howell are accused of robbing a 38-year-old Ypsilanti man who was called to deliver a pizza at 1 a.m. April 12 in the 1000 block of Bluestem Lane.

howell.jpg

Jeffrey Howell

Courtesy of Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office

Bush said the delivery driver got out of his car with a pizza and was looking for the address he was called to when the men flagged him down. Bush said Hugan and Howell told the delivery driver that they were the customers who had ordered the pizza.

As the driver approached the two men, one of them reached into a pocket, appearing to be pulling out money, but Bush said he pulled out a gun instead. The other man held the driver’s hands behind his back and went through his pockets, taking out cash, she said.

Hugan and Howell are accused of taking the cash and the pizza before fleeing the area toward South Maple Road.

The two teenagers are also accused of setting up a delivery driver from Happy Wok, a Chinese restaurant, in an attempt to rob him last week, Bush said.

The driver went to the 2000 block of Liberty Heights at 9:15 p.m. April 17 after the restaurant received an order. Bush said the driver was suspicious when he arrived because the same phone number had called the restaurant a week before and gave a different address — one that didn’t exist. Although the address that was used on April 17 was legitimate, it was to a vacant property, Bush said.

The restaurant accepted the order and the man drove to the address that was given, knocking on the door but getting no answer. There were no lights on at the home and a “For Sale” sign was in the yard, Bush said. Sensing something was amiss, the driver went back to his car and locked the doors, she said.

A man approached the car while talking on a cell phone and the driver rolled down his window to ask if he had ordered food, Bush said, but the man didn’t answer. The driver spotted a second man standing on a stairway between units of the complex and that was the trigger for the driver to leave the complex and call police, Bush said.

Ann Arbor police Detectives Bill Stanford and Chris Fitzpatrick ended up arresting Hugan and Howell after following a lead to the home on Adrienne, Bush said. The two men were arrested without incident.

Hugan and Howell are due to come back to court for a preliminary exam at 8:30 a.m. May 3, according to court records.


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Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Comments

Next-Level Sports-Video

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 5:25 p.m.

I must say this is disappointing. Reading the comments, many people are inhumane. Wishing evil on the next person. When I was in HS I had a friend who pulled a similar stunt. He wasn't locked up and given life in prison though. He went on to earn a scholarship for football; graduated; and is now doing very well as a police officer. What these kids did was wrong, but they are kids. The people on here posting and wishing for hard times or mad because the bail is $1500 are probably huge hypocrites. They probably have done something in there life time that would have resulted in jail time if they were caught. People kill me wanting God to be merciful to them but having no mercy for their fellow humans. These weren't some hardened life time criminals. These are kids on some stupid $#$!. We have ALL done stupid $#$!, we just don't all suffer the same consequences.

Gorc

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 11:56 p.m.

They pointed a gun at someone and threaten their life. Very naive post.

Gorc

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 12:08 p.m.

Wow....they only need to $1,500 to get out of jail.

Tru2Blu76

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 10:26 p.m.

What ever happened to this trajectory for 16-18 year-old young men -(?): Young man participates on a high school sports team, plus 1 or more school clubs (chess, jazz, science), plus works a few hours at a local store. Young man is too busy to hatch plans to ROB ANYONE WITH AN ILLEGAL PISTOL (even though guns are available at home for target shooting and hunting). In fact, young man has MONEY of his own because he WORKED to earn it himself. Young man is told by elders that he should be proud to be doing these things - AND HE IS. Whatever happened to that plan?? Fortunately, the great majority of young men and women today: STILL know about this plan and follow it . So the question becomes: Why aren't the few like these two accused of armed robbery GETTING IT?

KMHall

Thu, Apr 26, 2012 : 12:38 a.m.

I think that there are obstacles to them "getting it." The behavior is not excused by the existence of the obstacles but it is our challenge, as a society, to figure out what stands in the way and to figure out how to provide and enforce alternatives that deter crime and promote productive lives. You ask whatever happened to that plan. There have always been those who followed the desired path and those who didn't. The message has always failed to get through to some.

nickcarraweigh

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 9:26 p.m.

You should be careful about this story. This crime may seem so unspeakably stupid that you lose faith in humanity and fall into an abyss of existential angst. And who could blame you? But, think it through. Would-be Napoleons of crime like whoever a court concludes pulled this one off are the kind of people who make it possible for The Florida Keys to be crowded with law enforcement agents retired at age 52 with 75 percent pay. Since the pension pay is padded by overtime hourly rates, they get to order lobster at lunch, too. Apparently unproductive crime is a big part of the economy, making many of us better off.

EyeHeartA2

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 6:20 p.m.

A quick seach of AA.com shows Anthony Hugan as a high school student, active in sports at both Pioneer and at Huron. I'm assuming there are two Anthony Hugan's in Ann Arbor. If so, is it possible to tell us which one? I would hate for the wrong kid to get his name mixed up with this.

Kyle Feldscher

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 7:45 p.m.

EyeHeartA2- We've confirmed that the Anthony Hugan in this story is the same Anthony Hugan who played basketball for Pioneer.

GT

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 7:12 p.m.

@EHA2 - sorry, you're right; i misread your comment. and got axed in the process :)

Kyle Feldscher

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 6:49 p.m.

EyeHeartA2- I'm trying to distinguish if there is one or two Anthony Hugans who played sports for Ann Arbor high schools recently. In the meantime, I've updated the story with Anthony Hugan's middle name to help identify this particular individual.

EyeHeartA2

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 6:48 p.m.

Yes, I looked at pictures and saw a third basemen at Huron and a basketball player at Pioneer, and they didn't look like the same kid to me.

Ron Granger

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 5:49 p.m.

You mess with the Happy Wok, you'll do the Perp Walk. I hope a conviction leads to hard time eating low-grade prison hot dogs.

smokeblwr

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 5:44 p.m.

Can't say I'm surprised by the details here. Something is always going down on Adrienne Dr.

cinnabar7071

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 9:33 p.m.

Can you say Gov't assistance? How about entitlement? How about high school drop out?

say it plain

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 5:08 p.m.

I'm digging the extra little "real estate for sale" angle on this particular crime report... It looks like this crime-scheme made use of the large numbers of vacant properties that exist in today's landscape! So, maybe now that we're hearing how the Real Estate market is "warming up", the crime market will "cool down"?! That must be the grand city strategy :-) !!

Harry

Wed, Apr 25, 2012 : 5:07 p.m.

I will never understand that. Robbing a pizza delivery guy???? Those guy usually have less that $100 on them. Going to jail for $100?!?! You could have worked two days at Mcdonalds and made that.