Pawnshop trial nears conclusion

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999 | 10:55 a.m.

Closing arguments were scheduled for today in the trial of three people in the bungled holdup at a Super Pawn Store that degenerated into a six-hour tension-filled standoff with police.

Much of the testimony Tuesday again focused on the role of Stephanie Lark, a store employee and the girlfriend of one of the alleged gunmen, who claimed she was not part of the March 4 assault.

The other defendants, Tarz Mitchell, 31, and Howard Benjamin, 27, didn't have the option for such an argument because they surrendered to police to end the standoff and have been identified by numerous hostages and other witnesses.

Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz called Lark's friend and fellow employee Latisha Boyd as one of the last witnesses, but the focus was on what Boyd didn't say rather than what she did.

Schwartz asked her if Lark had admitted she was quitting her job at Super Pawn and was going to "get them big" before she left.

Boyd, who was not working the day of the holdup, denied that.

But another employee, who was a hostage, took the witness stand to testify that Boyd told her after the incident of Lark's earlier announcement.

That witness, Susan Smith, also told the jury in District Judge Joseph Bonaventure's courtroom how she was used as a human shield on several occasions by the bandits as they peered out the windows of the store at 3252 Las Vegas Blvd. North to determine police activities.

Another hostage, Super Pawn corporate manager Mark Hachtel, explained how he almost had a heart attack during the incident because he and security investigator Steve Angelo had barricaded themselves in a tiny office with no windows or vents.

Hachtel said he became light-headed and feared for his health after four hours, during which the bandits repeatedly demanded they surrender and tried to pry open the door. He and Angelo finally gave up.

Like all the hostages except Lark, the two were bound hand and foot by the gunmen.

Hachtel and Angelo, whose presence at the store had not been announced to employees, had called 911 from the barricaded office after the bandits barged into the business. That resulted in the prompt police response and the subsequent standoff.

The corporate employees actually were at the store for an embezzlement investigation that was targeting Lark, according to authorities.

None of the defendants took the witness stand in their own defense. No defense witnesses were called to explain why Lark, 31, left the Super Pawn with more than $14,000 in cash and jewelry hidden in her pantyhose.

If convicted of kidnapping charges, the defendants would face mandatory life prison terms.