Metro says man arrested after police shooting linked to robbery

By Cara McCoy

Thursday, April 1, 2010 | 8:40 p.m.

A man shot to death by Metro Police and a second man with him in a car that had been reported stolen have been linked to a November convenience store robbery, an arrest report says.

Marvin Lee Wilson, 45, was booked on a count of robbery with a deadly weapon earlier this week after investigators linked him to a robbery that took place shortly after midnight Nov. 24 at the 7-Eleven at 4950 W. Charleston Blvd.

Wilson also faced charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and obstructing a police officer in connection with a March 23 encounter with police that led to the shooting, but those charges were dropped Monday.

Wilson ran from police after they pulled over a car shortly before Damon Beal — also seen in the vehicle — shot and wounded a Metro Police officer after a foot chase through residential backyards.

Beal, 26, died after he was shot by the wounded officer’s partner, police said.

The injured officer, Mike Madland, 31, was shot twice — once in his bulletproof vest, and once in his leg.

One of the bullets hit a major artery in his leg, and he has been at University Medical Center since the night of the shooting.

Hospital officials said Thursday that Madland had been upgraded from critical to serious condition.

According to an arrest report released on Thursday, the 7-Eleven clerk told police three men entered the store at midnight Nov. 24 and asked where the whipped cream was kept.

One of the men, all three of whom are seen on surveillance video, was identified as Wilson. Another was identified as Beal. The third man hasn’t been identified, police said.

After the clerk showed the men the whipped cream, they said it wasn’t the right brand and left the store. About 20 minutes later, they came back, the report said.

Police said the surveillance video shows Wilson and the unidentified man walk to the beer cooler. Beal walks between the cooler and the cash register. Eventually, Wilson approaches the clerk at the register, the report said.

The clerk told police Wilson kept his right hand in his pocket and pointed it at the clerk. His left hand was bandaged, the clerk said.

The clerk told police he asked Wilson what was in his pocket, to which Wilson responded, “Just do your job,” the report stated.

The clerk told police he believed the man had a gun.

As Wilson was engaging the clerk at the register, the other two men left the store. Wilson followed, and all three got into a white Hyundai and drove westbound on Charleston, police said.

The clerk told police that a 24-ounce bottle of Budweiser and a liter bottle of Mad Dog were missing, along with two condoms.

He said the men appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance during the encounter.

The clerk was able to provide police the Hyundai’s license plate number, and a records check indicated it had been reported stolen.

The police report said officers contacted the car’s owner, who told investigating officers his daughter had been at Beal’s mother’s apartment the day before and had left her purse unattended with her car keys inside. The car was stolen while she was at the apartment, he told police.

On Nov. 25, the man seen on the surveillance tape identified as Wilson again entered the 7-Eleven. He made a purchase and then left with a woman in a Mercedes Benz.

The clerk again obtained the license number, which he provided to police at a later date. Police determined the Mercedes was registered to Wilson’s wife. The car was a different Mercedes than the reportedly stolen car Wilson and Beal were in on March 23.

Wilson is set to be arraigned on the robbery charge Friday morning. Wilson, who also faces an unrelated petit larceny charge in connection with the theft of cash from an adult bookstore, is jailed on a $100,000 bond in that case. He is being held without bail on the robbery charge.

The officer who shot Beal was identified earlier this week as officer Christopher Le Blanc, who has been with Metro Police since November 2001 and is assigned to the saturation team.

A formal inquest into Beal’s death hasn’t yet been scheduled, the Clark County Coroner’s office said.