Skip to main content
Press Release

Third Man Indicted for Armed Robbery Conspiracy

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri
Shoot-out with Police Resulted in Fatality

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a third man has been indicted for his role in a conspiracy that included at least 10 armed robberies, culminating in the armed robbery of a Walgreens in Blue Springs, Mo., which resulted in a fourth suspect being fatally shot by law enforcement officers.

 

Shannon R. Thomas, 26, of Shawnee, Kan., and Deonte J. Collins-Abbott, 21, and Parrise K. Black, also known as “Kilo,” 24, both of Grandview, Mo., were charged in a 22-count superseding indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Black’s arrest and initial court appearance. The superseding indictment replaces the original indictment that was returned on April 20, 2016, and adds Black as a co-defendant.

 

Thomas and Collins-Abbott have been in federal custody without bond since their arrests on March 24, 2016. Black remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

 

The federal indictment alleges that Thomas, Collins-Abbott and Black participated in a conspiracy to commit a series of armed robberies between Jan. 2 and March 24, 2016.

 

In addition to the conspiracy, Thomas and Collins-Abbott are charged together with the armed robbery of the Walgreens located at 9th and Duncan in Blue Springs on March 24, 2016. They are also charged together with possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to that crime. Thomas is also charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Thomas allegedly possessed a Springfield Armory semi-automatic pistol on March 24, 2016.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance that day on Thomas and Collins-Abbott as part of an investigation into a series of armed robberies at businesses in Independence, Mo., Raytown, Mo., North Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan. In all of these robberies, the affidavit says, the suspects consistently displayed handguns in a threatening manner and behaved in a violent and aggressive fashion physically toward their victims (including shooting one victim at the Conoco located at 4656 Prospect Ave., Kansas City, Mo., on March 15, 2016). The robberies appear to have been committed consistently by at least four suspects, the affidavit says, who appear in surveillance video in most of the incidents.

 

On March 24, 2016, according to the affidavit, Thomas, Collins-Abbot and Jermon Seals of Shawnee, Kan., confronted a Walgreens employee outside the business and forced the employee inside at gunpoint. Once inside, the affidavit says, one of the robbers placed a firearm to the back of the employee’s head and took money from the front register. The other two robbers went over the pharmacy counter and took prescription grade cough syrup at gunpoint from the pharmacist. They left the business but were confronted by law enforcement officers as they were walking back to the vehicle. They failed to comply with the officers’ commands, according to the affidavit, and turned towards the officers, pointing a gun in their direction. Officers returned fire and Seals was struck in the exchange. Collins-Abbott and Thomas were apprehended by officers after a short foot pursuit.

 

In addition to the Walgreens robbery, Thomas and Collins-Abbott are charged together in one count of armed robbery of Phillips 66, 8111 E. 87th St., Raytown, Mo., on March 2, 2016.

 

In addition to the Walgreens and Phillips 66 robberies, Thomas is also charged with three counts of armed robbery and three counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to those crimes. Thomas allegedly robbed Midwest Title Loan, 330 W. 85th St., Kansas City, Mo., on Jan. 19, 2016; and Conoco, 4516 E. 39th St., Kansas City, Mo., on March 15, 2016. Thomas and Black are charged together in one count of armed robbery of Shell, 3786 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo., on March 20, 2016, and one count of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to that crime.

 

In addition to the Walgreens and Phillips 66 robberies, Collins-Abbott is charged with five counts of armed robbery and five counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to those crimes. Collins-Abbott allegedly robbed Worlds Liquor and Tobacco, 1901 NE Russell Rd., Kansas City, Mo., on March 7, 2016; Conoco, 4516 E. 39th St., Kansas City, Mo., on March 8, 2016; and Dollar General, 5100 Blue Ridge Cutoff, Kansas City, Mo., on March 21, 2016. Collins-Abbot and Black are charged together in two counts of armed robbery and two counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to those crimes. They allegedly robbed QuikTrip, 16501 E. U.S. 40 Hwy., Independence, Mo., on Feb. 3, 2016; and Pour Boys, 2601 Chouteau, North Kansas City, Mo., on Feb. 3, 2016.

 

In addition to the conspiracy, Black is charged in a total of three counts of armed robbery and three counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to those crimes – one count in which he is charged together with Thomas, and two counts in which he is charged together with Collins-Abbott.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Caine. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Updated August 11, 2016

Topic
Violent Crime