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Man pleads guilty in 2001 carjacking
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA -- Tobaris Arrington, one of three men accused in the bloody carjacking of a USF student, pleaded guilty Friday to his part in the crime and agreed to testify against his co-defendants. Arrington, 18, pleaded guilty to charges of carjacking, kidnapping, robbery, arson, and tampering with physical evidence. In return, prosecutors dropped a charge of attempted murder against him. While the remaining charges could still bring life in prison, prosecutors may ask for a lighter sentence. The charges against Arrington stem from a Dec. 13, 2001, attack on Lai Chau, a 20-year-old student who survived being shot three times in the head. Authorities say Arrington and his stepbrother, 22-year-old Jabari Armstrong, approached Chau as she was about to exit her pink Acura Integra, which she had just parked near her N 30th Street apartment. Police said the men held her at gunpoint, stole $40 from her purse and at one point stopped to talk to an accomplice in another car, 22-year-old Anthony Smith. Police said that after Armstrong shot Chau three times, the men drove off and torched her car. Armstrong is scheduled for trial in February on charges of attempted first-degree murder, attempted felony murder, arson, robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and tampering with physical evidence. Smith is scheduled for trial in January on charges of arson, accessory after the fact to attempted murder, carjacking and robbery, tampering with physical evidence and grand theft motor vehicle. Chau did not attend the hearing. Prosecutor Donna Hanes said Chau was still recovering from the shooting and had suffered some hearing loss. "She's a very strong young woman," Hanes said. -- Christopher Goffard can be reached at 226-3337 or goffard@sptimes.com .
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From the Times |
