Columbus man pleads in 2 robberies, one involving a 13-year-old boy
Michael William Bush Jr. committed two robberies along Columbus’ Wynnton Road, first using a 13-year-old for a lookout as he and two others took money at gunpoint from a guy delivering Chinese food, then robbing a Circle K of $15 before police saw him walking nearby and arrested him.
That was back in the fall of 2016. Bush later was charged with two counts of armed robbery, but those charges were reduced only to robbery Monday as Bush pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Ben Land, who sentenced him to 20 years in prison with eight to serve and the rest on probation.
Now 22, Bush was 19 when police charged him and two others with robbing the deliveryman in the 1600 block of 12th Street, just one block north of Wynnton Road behind the Wendy’s restaurant at 1707 Wynnton Road.
The victim parked at Wendy’s while looking for a 12th Street apartment to which he was to deliver the food. Finding the address didn’t exist, the man was walking back to his car when four people in hooded sweatshirts accosted him, one of them armed with a handgun.
The gunman was Bush, police said, and with him were an 18-year-old and two boys ages 16 and 13. The 13-year-old later told investigators he was in the Gangster Disciples street gang and served as a lookout for his accomplices, who took the deliveryman’s cash and food.
Two days later and about four blocks west, Bush walked into the 2102 Wynnton Road Circle K around 2 a.m., took a 75-cent snack to the front counter, pulled out a pistol when the clerk opened the register and demanded money. He walked out with $15.
Police responding to the store alarm still were there about 3:30 a.m. when a witness looking down the street saw Bush crossing Wynnton Road west of Brown Avenue, and pointed him out. Officers chased him down and found a loaded pistol they believe he used to rob the store.
Though police initially alleged Bush was associated with the Gangster Disciples, gang charges were dropped during his preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court, where the judge said investigators failed to provide evidence of such a connection.
Though charged with two separate robberies, Bush was able to get “first offender” treatment during his sentencing, meaning his record will be cleared if he successfully completes his probation without additional violations.