St. George man sentenced for Subway armed robbery

ST. GEORGE – A St. George man was sentenced Wednesday in 5th District Court to a year in jail and three years probation related to the armed robbery of a Subway restaurant.

Richard Scott Labrum of St. George, arrested for the robbery of a Subway in St. George, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 18, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff's Office, St. George News
Richard Scott Labrum of St. George, arrested for the robbery of a Subway in St. George, Hurricane, Utah, Nov. 18, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Richard Scott Labrum, 27, was convicted of robbing the Subway at 524 N. Bluff Street with a knife shortly after 9 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2015, then fleeing the scene. He was apprehended three hours later by St. George Police officers.

Labrum was charged with a second-degree felony charge for aggravated robbery, which carries a potential one to 15 year prison term. A misdemeanor theft charge was dropped as part of a plea deal.

“I think Mr. Labrum needs prison,” Deputy Washington County Attorney Rachelle Shumway told Judge G. Michael Westfall.

Labrum appears to be able to balance himself and achieve well in school, Shumway said, yet he turned around and robbed a Subway restaurant at knife-point, leaving the employee involved very “shaken up.”

“I think he’s had a chance to make his life better and threw it all away,” Shumway said, referring to a previous chance Labrum had been given to help deal with addiction issues via drug court.

Trevor Terry, Labram’s lawyer, said his client is “a very dangerous person” when under the control of his addiction. However, when using the tools he has to deal with the addiction, Labrim is well-behaved and does well in school, as evidenced by grade transcripts shared with the court.

While the prosecution pushed for prison time, Terry referenced a pre-sentencing report from Adult Probation and Parole that recommended Labrum be placed under supervision instead of prison.

If Adult Probation and Parole feels Labrum can succeed at kicking his addiction while under strict supervision, he should be allowed the chance, Terry said.

“I’m very sorry and ashamed of my actions,” Labrum told the judge. “I made a terrible decision that day. I have to take responsibility for my actions. I know my life is in your hands right now and you’ll make the best decision for me.”

Westfall said he was troubled by the excuses being made for what Labrum did that day and noted Shumway was well within her rights to ask for prison time.

It earned you a ticket to prison,” Westfall said, yet added he’s taking a chance on the defendant and putting him on three years of probation following 364 days in the county jail. Credit was issued for time already served.

“You’ve got to get to the bottom of this,” Westfall said to Labrum.

According to court records, Subway employees told police that Labrum called the restaurant prior to the robbery and asked various questions before hanging up. He then entered the Subway while attempting “to disguise himself with duct tape place(d) over his mouth, and some duct tape on his clothing to cover up emblems.”

With knife in hand, Labrum demanded money and then left with $355. Police were able to track Labrum down through the phone number he used to call Subway, according to court records.

Labrum was also sentenced in an unrelated June 2015 case related to drug possession and drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to 364 days in jail and 24 months probation. That term will be served concurrent with the sentence for the armed robbery.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

 

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7 Comments

  • debbie March 17, 2016 at 1:11 am

    the 12 step program is a great place to live your life until science can figure out why some people simply must feel euphoric and drown out some other sort of sensation with self medicating. i no longer feel it is all about a sad life, or feeling numb from pain. nope.. i think it helps those ppl escape.. but there is something else going on. sorta like an autistic drowning out sensory with stimming. they just haven’t done enough science and research yet. they have gotten too comfortable with band-aiding everything with 12 steps… which by the way if perfectly helpful and useful AND WORKS.. but i feel theres more they can do.. they still just don’t understand ppls need to feel “ga ga”.. we cannot trash these ppl and walk around acting like we are superior or better than them just b/c we don’t have their particular addiction issue.. if we do not have their problems, then we do not understand them completely… at least they have each other in the 12 step program.. and STILL i think there r different levels of addictions in THAT program and i feel some addicts r judged unmercifully by their lesser degree judges.. anyways.. God loves all these people.. they are not hacks.. science just hasn’t evolved enough to fix this.. until then an addict must attend 12 steps, and work it out until it is all understood. i jibber on about all this b/c i know addicts and i have an autistic son and i see a correlation… there is something going on in their bodies they are trying to drowned out.. but they are hurting others, killing theirselves.. and they need our love and they need to love theirselves and they need 12 steps.

  • Cindi March 17, 2016 at 10:45 am

    Debbie, I believe you are right and we as a society need to have compassion and understanding when dealing with addiction and mental illness. My hope is that science will continue to research the many complexities of the brain and emotions. I have met this young man and was privileged to get to know him. He is an extremely sensitive individual who feels pain very deeply and carries a great deal of shame and guilt. I do not believe he needs prison. The prison system does nothing to help heal the spirit but actually inflicts more damage. He needs help on so many levels which is impossible to provide in jail. I dream of the day that all humans are treated with respect and dignity. Maybe we can use the theory that Denmark uses…http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/letters/the-danish-prison-system. My opinions aren’t popular but what our society does is not working. It’s insane to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

    • RealMcCoy March 17, 2016 at 3:01 pm

      I bet the Subway employee felt privileged to get to know him too.

      • .... March 18, 2016 at 10:28 pm

        I’m sure the Subway employee was happy they didn’t have to meet you

        • RealMcCoy March 19, 2016 at 3:35 pm

          Don’t be such a hagfish, dotboy.

    • Mean Momma March 18, 2016 at 1:33 pm

      Seriously? He threatens people with a knife and you don’t think he needs some time in jail because he is “sensitive”? Give me a freaking break.

  • ladybugavenger March 17, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    Science? You give science too much credit. These people need Jesus! Y’all need Jesus 😀

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