Robbery victims follow sentencing

April 11, 2006

MARY AMES

Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - A Wasilla man who was only 16 when he used a firearm to rob a business was sentenced in Palmer Superior Court on Monday, and the women he victimized said they thought he was making progress.

When Scott R. Berry walked into Alaska Midnite Scents about 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2004, there were no other customers in the store. Dressed in black Carhartts and wearing a ski mask, Berry held a Ruger .22 pistol and told Judy Randels to give him the money as she sat at the cash register.

&#8220I was dumbfounded,” Randels said. &#8220I focused on the gun. Was it real or was it fake?”

It had been the busiest day ever for Randels and Dolores Hess, who own the business together. Just before Berry entered, the women had their first break since opening that morning. Randels was studying a credit card receipt, and Hess was on the far side of the store, on the phone.

&#8220We sell these angels with Bible verses on them,” Hess said. &#8220I was reading scripture to a customer, so she could decide which angel she wanted to buy.”

Hess thought for a fleeting moment that the robber didn't see her, and she might be able to call 911. But Berry turned the gun toward her and twice told her to drop the phone, she said.

Randels dropped the cash drawer when she removed it from the register. She was afraid the man with the gun might shoot her for that, so she apologized and said she didn't do it on purpose. Meanwhile, she noticed he wore no gloves and his Carhartts were open to reveal a shirt underneath with red flames on it.

Hess called 911 as soon as Berry left the store with $915 in cash. Wasilla police picked him up walking along the Parks Highway within 10 minutes, she said. Berry had ditched the ski mask near Alaska Industrial Hardware and thrown the gun in the woods, but he still had $800 in cash on him, still wore the same Carhartts and had the same red-flame shirt on. Hess had given a description of Berry to the police.

&#8220I got his height within an inch and his weight within 5 pounds,” Hess said.

Berry was originally charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree theft and two counts of third-degree assault on Dec. 19, exactly two months short of his 17th birthday.

&#8220That bothered me the most, I think,” Hess said. &#8220He was 16 and had ruined his life. I thought, ‘Dear God, where are his parents?'”

Hess and Randels followed Berry through all his court hearings, including a change from representation by a public defender to his hiring two different private defense attorneys. At first, Berry was going to plead guilty, they said, then he wanted a trial with a three-judge panel and, finally, the state and the defense came to a resolution, looking at Berry's youth and his clean record but staying focused on how serious this crime was.

Berry pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree robbery in May 2005, according to court records.

Superior Court Judge Beverly Cutler sentenced Berry to six and a half years in jail, with one and a half years suspended.

At sentencing, Berry's lawyer, Erin McCrum, said that Berry had completed his GED and had earned his CPR card while in jail.

&#8220It was a horrible crime,” McCrum said. &#8220He has been in jail for the last year and a half and will be for quite some time. But he is taking steps in the right direction, he was doing well down (at the correctional facility) in Seward.”

Berry stood as he spoke to Hess and Randels.

&#8220I want to let you know how truly very sorry I am,” Berry said. &#8220Being in the adult system has been hard. But I see these men come in and go out and come in again. I don't want to be like them. I'm trying to better myself. I may not deserve forgiveness, but I hope you can find it in your hearts to do so.”

As Berry was led away to finish his sentence, Randels wished him good luck and Hess told him to be good.

Hess said later she was glad for the progress Berry made, saying he seems to be making the best of a bad situation.

Randels noticed something else that gave her hope.

&#8220When he talked, he spoke about the future,” Randels said. &#8220He wasn't making excuses.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.