Charlotte man gets 9 years in Central Avenue beating
A Charlotte man was sentenced to at least nine years in prison after a jury found him guilty this week of robbing a man of an iPhone and beating him with a brick, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray said Thursday.
Jamel Whatley, 27, was found guilty of robbery with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.
In August 2014, the victim was walking along Central Avenue when Whatley grabbed him from behind and hit him in the face with a brick, knocking the victim to the ground, prosecutors said.
Whatley kept hitting the victim with the brick while a 16-year-old female stole the victim’s iPhone from his pants pocket. Whatley and the teen ran when they saw the headlights of an approaching car.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police quickly linked Whatley to the robbery because he was wearing an electronic monitor as part of his post-release supervision on an unrelated charge. The monitor showed he was at the scene of the assault on Central Avenue, prosecutors said.
Whatley was arrested within 24 hours of the robbery, and police found the stolen iPhone on him.
The 16-year-old previously pleaded guilty in the case.
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 9:38 AM with the headline "Charlotte man gets 9 years in Central Avenue beating."