Verizon Store Armed Robbery Case Heads to Court

Antonio Jerome Porter, one of three defendants charged in connection with an armed robbery at a Canton Verizon store in which police say gunfire erupted, is facing trial after waiving his preliminary examination Friday at 35th District Court in Plymouth, according to the Canton Observer.

Court proceedings for Eric James-Lee Wilkins and Dantez Lamar Boykin-Johnson, the two other defendants in the case, have been delayed until March 18 after their defense attorneys indicated they might challenge weapons charges against the two men, the Observer reported.

According to the report, police say a semiautomatic assault rifle was used the morning of Feb. 25 to shoot open a locked glass sliding door of the Verizon store on Ford Road west of Morton Taylor.

The incident prompted the locking down of four local elementary schools in the area as police searched for the suspects.

Mark Brown, Boykin-Johnson's lawyer, told the Observer there was no indication either Boykin-Johnson or Wilkins carried weapons during the incident.

All three suspects are 18, according to Canton Police. Porter and Wilkins are from Inkster and Boykin-Johnson is from Westland.