Pubdate: Thu, 22 Dec 2005
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2005 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/submit.asp
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Bob Purvis
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

3 MEN CHARGED IN BOTCHED WEST ALLIS ROBBERY

Three men who joined in a plan to rob an alleged drug dealer using a
BB gun watched a fourth participant in the plot bleed to death after
he was shot with a real firearm, a criminal complaint charging the
three men alleges.

Zachary A. Fish, 18, Michael A. Robins, 17, and Brandon D. Moscicki,
20, were charged Wednesday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with
attempted armed robbery, party to a crime. If convicted, they could
spend 20 years in prison and be fined $50,000.

The complaint says their plan led to the fatal shooting Saturday of
Casey A. Steinke ,18, the second homicide victim in West Allis this
year.

According to the complaint:

The four friends planned to rob an alleged drug dealer of one-quarter
pound of "hydro," potent marijuana worth about $1,100. Originally,
they hoped to lure the dealer into Steinke's house, where they planned
to beat him up and rob him of his drugs and money.

When the dealer refused to come into the house, they changed their
plan, agreeing to meet him at his car in the alley behind Steinke's
home in the 1300 block of S. 119th St., where they would rob him at
gunpoint.

After failing to find a real gun, Steinke retrieved a
realistic-looking BB pistol from his closet. They took a laser scope
off the gun to make it more convincing, Fish told investigators.

When the dealer and two of his friends arrived, Steinke and Moscicki
walked into the alley and got into their car.

Steinke, seated in the rear passenger seat next to the dealer's
cousin, pulled the BB gun from his waistband, pointed it at the back
of the dealer's head and demanded the drugs.

The cousin pulled out his own gun, a .45-caliber pistol, shooting
Steinke once in the chest. The bullet passed through Steinke's body
and grazed Moscicki in the arm.

Steinke ran into his house, where he bled to death on the kitchen
floor.

The person who fired the fatal gunshot isn't likely to face homicide
charges because Steinke had his cousin at gunpoint, said Assistant
District Attorney Mark Williams, but he could face drug charges.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin