Unfortunately, a man on parole for attempted robbery went back to his old ways and tried to mug two men with a fake gun. The attack ended up being fatal for the suspect as the men fought back, according to the New York Daily News.
The two men that Robert Compton targeted were both trained in martial arts and were able to use their skills to defend themselves, according to WABC-TV.
In an exclusive interview with the Eyewitness News reporter Darla Miles, the accused robber’s family says the story doesn’t add up.
“It sounds like it should be investigated a lot more, said the victim’s cousin George Pirola.
The NYPD and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office are investigating how 33-year old Robert Compton III ended up dead during what police say was an attempted robbery.
“So, two guys, why didn’t hey just hold him down, call 911. That’s that,” Pirola said.
There was a 911 call placed early Sunday morning just before 2 a.m. to the intersection of St. Albans Place and Pacific Avenue in the Eltingville section of Staten Island. Police say Compton approached two 29-year-old men with a gun and demanded money.
They say the two would be victims, turned the tables, physically engaging Compton in order to get control of the gun. Compton was unconscious when police arrived and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
“I’m experience in martial arts, my wife is too, and you know when you have somebody passed out and you let it go at that point,” Pirola said.
Police later determined the gun was fake.
“It didn’t sound right to me. You know, two martial arts guys from what I read, knocked the gun out of his hand and then choked him out. They choked him to death,” Pirola said. “Basically, they killed the kid after they had him choked out.”
Compton does have a criminal history including robbery, grand larceny and assaulting a police officer.
“He’s got some scrapes, but nothing like that. I couldn’t imagine him trying to do something like that,” Pirola said.
There is more to this story as a neighbor gives a character reference for one of the victims.
“I’ve known him since he was a little boy,” Richard Vitale knows one of the victims involved in the armed robbery, according to the Daily News. “He’s a stand-up guy. I heard a rumor that he took karate. He’s outgoing, he has a lot of friends. He gets along with everybody. He’d be the last person I would think would be connected to this.
He said he must’ve been at the “wrong place” at the “wrong time.”
The Daily News reported that the legal team representing the two men was “clearly acting in self defense.”
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