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Over the course of just one month, an Oakland Park man robbed 10 stores in Broward and Palm Beach counties at gunpoint while an accomplice emptied cash register drawers and grabbed scratch-off lottery tickets — anything of value. For their one-month’s haul, the two of them are going to prison for decades.
Gunman Bryan David Burke was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison and Kelvyn Lavon Cross, Jr. was sentenced to 17 years. At the time of his arrest, Cross was on probation after serving a 13-year prison sentence for similar crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.
The gas stations, convenience and liquor stores were robbed from late February to late March. As authorities moved in on Burke the day of his arrest, he led officers on a high-speed chase in South Florida before abandoning his vehicle and running through multiple private backyards. He even broke into a home and got in a fist fight with someone inside, authorities say.
Burke in July pled guilty to five charges of federal robbery and three charges of using a firearm in commission with another violent crime. Cross pled guilty in July to three federal robbery charges and two firearm charges.
A third South Florida resident, Brandon Xavier Jones, pled guilty in this case to two charges of federal robbery. U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas will sentence Jones in November.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Robert Cekada, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Miami Field Office, made the announcement Wednesday.
The ATF investigated the case with assistance from Broward Sheriff’s Office, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, Wilton Manors Police Department, and Delray Beach Police Department.
Eileen Kelley can be reached at 772-925-9193 or ekelley@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Twitter @reporterkell.
