Two charged in Racine armed robbery, shooting incident

RACINE (WITI) -- Two suspects accused in an armed robbery and shooting that occurred on Monday night, December 2nd in Racine have now been charged in the case.

The suspects are identified as 16-year-old Damario Redmond of Racine, and 21-year-old Maurice Smith of Waterford.

Redmond is charged with one count of attempted first degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon, one count of armed robbery, one count of attempted armed robbery, one count of possession of a firearm (adjudged delinquent) and one count of first degree recklessly endangering safety (use of a dangerous weapon).

Racine police say due to the severity of the charges against him, Redmond will be seen in adult court.

A criminal complaint against Redmond indicates police were dispatched to Sixteenth Street Foods in Racine for a shooting just after 3:00 p.m. on Monday, December 2nd.

Officers made contact with the store's owner, who reported the store had been robbed by two black males wearing hooded sweatshirts, masks and black gloves.

The complaint indicates Redmond was armed with a handgun.

The complaint says Redmond ordered a 40-year-old white man to the floor and pointed the gun at the store owner's face, and began demanding money. The store's owner told officials he removed the tray from the cash register and placed it on the counter, and Redmond removed cash from the tray, according to the complaint.

That's when the complaint says Redmond began demanding more money, but the store's owner said he had no more.

The complaint says the second suspect, 21-year-old Smith came around the back side of the counter and looked for additional money. The complaint says Smith began taking packages of Newport cigarettes from the display and then went into the storage closet behind the counter and grabbed additional cartons of Newport cigarettes.

The store owner's cell phone was also taken during the incident.

Officials spoke with the 40-year-old man shot in the incident who told officials he was trying to leave the store when the suspects entered. He was ordered to the ground, and Redmond checked his pockets, according to the criminal complaint.

The complaint indicates the man began to get up, when Redmond approached him and ordered him to get back on the floor while pointing the gun at him. Redmond told the man to go lower, but he said he couldn't due to knee problems.

That's when Redmond shot the man in the chest, according to the complaint.

The man shot is Mark Le Rette, who spoke with FOX6 News on Tuesday, December 3rd when these charges came down.

"All of a sudden the gun went off and I was shot. Two inches away from my heart. It was frightening and scary," Le Rette said.

Le Rette told FOX6 News he has cerebral palsy -- and is happy to be alive.

"I'm blessed and God was watching me," Le Rette said.

When speaking with officials, the complaint says Redmond told them: "I didn't mean to shoot the guy."

Officials spoke with Smith who admitted to robbing Sixteenth Street Foods with Redmond, according to the criminal complaint.

Smith is charged with attempted first degree intentional homicide as party to a crime, armed robbery as party to a crime, and attempted armed robbery as party to a crime.

The suspects were arrested in this case when police received information that a party with a possible gunshot wound to the leg was outside of Twins Food Mart on 16th Street.

The criminal complaint says Redmond shot himself in the leg trying to put his gun back into his pants.

Officers responded to that location and quickly located the injured party (Redmond), who was transported to Wheaton Franciscan for treatment.

The 40-year-old man shot in the chest was also taken to the hospital for treatment.