Man gets 6 years in 2022 Markland Mall armed robbery

Kim Dunlap, Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
·2 min read

Apr. 18—A Kokomo man arrested after police say he robbed a store inside Markland Mall in 2022 and then attempted to flee the scene was recently sentenced to six years in prison.

The sentence for Leevontay Brown, 21, comes after an April 4 plea agreement in which Brown pled guilty to charges of intimidation and unlawful carrying of a handgun, both level 5 felonies, according to court documents.

Those same court documents also stated a level 3 felony charge of armed robbery was dismissed as a result of the agreement, and Brown's sentence will run consecutively with sentences on two unrelated charges.

According to initial police reports, authorities were dispatched to the Piercing Pagoda, located inside the concourse area of Markland Mall, on the afternoon of Dec. 19, 2023, in reference to an armed robbery.

A witness to the incident reportedly told authorities a male — later identified as Brown — approached her and asked her to check on his order, court documents stated.

Brown also reportedly told the woman his stuff had been "stolen," and he wanted it replaced.

Moments later, per the woman's account, Brown leaned over the counter and stated, "This is how it normally goes. I come in here and tell them what I want, and I say please and thank you. I tell them if they don't want to die, they give me what I want. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to tell you what I want, please and thank you, and if you don't want to die, you will do it."

Brown then reportedly opened his jacket to show a handgun, per court documents.

He was eventually located and detained just outside the mall entrance between Chipotle and Books-A-Million, and police stated at the time they seized two semi-automatic handguns in Brown's possession upon being taken into custody.

It was not Brown's first brush with armed robbery.

In 2019, Brown was sentenced to three years in the Indiana Department of Correction — all suspended to supervised probation — for his role in a July 2019 armed robbery of a man in the 400 block of North Berkley Road.

In that case, according to court documents, Brown pleaded guilty to a level 5 felony charge of burglary, while a level 3 felony charge of armed robbery was dismissed.