Case dropped against paraplegic man accused of stealing from UPS driver, then sprinting away
Antwine Hunter spent two weeks in a Las Vegas jail before an important fact in his burglary and larceny case came to the attention of the prosecutor, the judge and a complaining witness: He is a paraplegic.
The perpetrator in his case stole a cellphone and a scanner from a United Parcel Service driver, then ran from the scene. However, Hunter was partially paralyzed in a drive-by shooting outside his school when he was 12 years old. He uses a wheelchair and can’t walk without braces, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Although Hunter was identified by the driver in a photo lineup that included head shots of seven black men, Hunter didn’t commit the crime, the driver told a prosecutor when he saw the 29-year-old in court at a Tuesday hearing. The prosecutor dropped the charges, but they can be reinstated if more evidence against Hunter turns up later.
“There’s no indication whatsoever as to why he’s even contained in a photographic lineup,” defense attorney Roy Nelson told Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman. “There’s nothing to support a finding that he was involved whatsoever.”
Hunter has prior controlled substance and terroristic threat convictions between 2006 and 2011, but told the newspaper that the drug charges involved marijuana he used to control pain he still experiences from his shooting injuries. The threat, he said, was an idle one made during a family dispute.
A warrant for Hunter’s arrest said he was “identified via investigative means.” Hunter said detectives never spoke to him.
