State
of Florida
Office of the State Attorney
16th Judicial Circuit
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Office of the State Attorney 16th Judicial Circuit
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Criminal Justice System Overview Employment Opportunities |
June 23, 2005 Note to aspiring bank robbers: On the night of a heist, however celebratory your mood, do not go to the local strip club and tip the dancers thousands of dollars in hundred-dollar denominations. The police will catch you. But that is exactly what James Tao Honeter, 35, of Key West did on November 20, 2003 after he approached a teller at the Overseas Market First State Bank in the Winn-Dixie supermarket and handed her a note demanding money. Moments later, he walked out of the busy store with $8,260 in his pockets. A jury of four women and two men today deliberated just seven minutes to find Honeter guilty of the felony robbery. Sentencing is scheduled for July 22 by Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones. As a “habitual violent felony offender,” Honeter faces up to 30 years behind bars. Charges of possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, battery on a law enforcement officer and criminal mischief are also pending against Honeter. “It’s this kind of violent, repeat offender we must get off our streets,” said State Attorney Mark Kohl. “My thanks goes to the KWPD and today’s jury for their decisive work.” At 4:20 PM, a week before Thanksgiving Day in 2003, bank security cameras show a man waiting in line for one of the two working tellers. At his turn, he approaches Heather Harrell’s window – a young woman 8½ months pregnant – and leans over the counter holding a note reading “ROBBERY 100 50 20.” Harrell testified in court yesterday that she was frightened and proceeded to extract bills from her cash drawer. In her panic, she forgot to pull her “trip money” – a stack of bills attached to a silent alarm tellers are instructed to pull should they be threatened. The theft lasted only moments, but two witnesses, Sonia Forbes, Harrell’s fellow teller and the customer she was helping, Leslie Watson, noticed how upset Harrell had suddenly become. Harrell whispered to Forbes that she had just been robbed and Forbes pulled her colleague’s trip money alarm. Honeter, however, had already fled the store. Both tellers and customer Watson later identified Honeter in a photo lineup. Key West Police Department detectives quickly arrived at the crime scene and made photographic prints – the modern equivalent of wanted posters – from the bank’s surveillance camera video tapes. They circulated Honeter’s photo and description to Keys businesses a bank robber might patronize. The publicity paid off. At 11:00 PM that night, Terrance Dickinson, a bouncer at Teasers Night Club phoned KWPD Detective William Larkin to report that a man matching Honeter’s description was at the club. Dickinson said that his suspicions were further roused by the fact that this patron had tipped one dancer $600 and another $3,000 in hundred-dollar bills. One of the dancers later testified that when she questioned Honeter, whom she knew, about the large sums, he replied that it was “free money.” Both dancers later identified Honeter in a photo lineup. When KWPD detectives Wood and Allen arrived at Teasers to apprehend the suspect, police reports say that Honeter “became combative . . . it looked like he was going to fight the detectives.” Once outside the club, a search of Honeter’s person produced a crack pipe and $3,261 in cash (not including the $3,600 he had paid in tips). He was taken into custody. At the police station, Honeter’s aggression intensified. Video tapes show Honeter try violently to attack officers. He shouted profane insults. Before his arms and legs were restrained, he kicked a hole in an office wall. And after spitting on officers; his face was fitted with a “spit mask.” His apparent blunders notwithstanding, Honeter is not new to bank robbery. He was convicted of the November 1994 heist of a California bank and served time in Federal prison for the crime. He has subsequently been convicted of several violent crimes in Key West; he was last released from jail only two years ago. As a “habitual violent felony offender” his minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years for the First State Bank robbery could be doubled to 30 years. Manny Madruga assisted by Mark Wilson prosecuted the case for the State Attorney’s office. He credited the KWPD “comprehensive” investigative work for the “airtight” case against Honeter as well as the quick jury verdict. “This case shows how community involvement can help stop crime,” said Madruga. “Thanks to the bank’s vigilance, the police department’s quick work and citizens’ involvement, we were able to stop this violent criminal, holding evidence, within hours of his crime.” |
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Last modified:
10/23/07
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