VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Virginia Beach man has been sentenced to 42 years in prison for leading a violent armed robbery spree across Hampton Roads.
According to a press release from the United States Attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia, a Bloods gang member, Harold Spencer, was sentenced to 507 months in prison for conspiracy to interfere with commerce by means of robbery, seven counts of interference and attempted interference with commerce by means of robbery, three counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
33-year-old Harold Spencer of Virginia Beach was the leader of a five-man armed robbery crew with Kareem Ross, 34, of Hampton, Roshun Griffin, 36, of Virginia Beach, Jon Morgan, 32, of Portsmouth, and Marvin Lockhart, Jr. 23, of Virginia Beach, according to court documents.
On March 18, 2022, Spencer led Virginia Beach police on a high-speed pursuit after trying to rob a Tiger Mart gas station.
A police cruiser's dash camera captured the men throwing several weapons from their car. Only after spike strips were deployed multiple times did the car finally come to a stop. Spencer and the other men were arrested. Police found ski masks and gloves inside the car.
During one of the robberies, Spencer shot multiple times at fleeing a customer, almost killing them. Spencer also took a selfie on his phone wearing a ski mask worn in all of the robberies. The same ski mask when recovered by police also contained Spencer's DNA.
His phone also had pictures of Ross holding a handgun with a drum magazine, multiple Glock firearms that matched the ones thrown from the vehicle during police pursuit, lots of cash and lottery tickets.
The clothing and shoes they were wearing matched what was seen in video surveillance from six other prior robberies. The crew had stolen cash, cigarettes and lottery tickets.
Investigators from the Virginia Lottery received alerts from convenience stores where attempts were made by Spencer and Ross to cash in the stolen tickets. Surveillance video from those attempts identified both of them.
On top of that, a shoe impression expert from the Virginia Department of Forensic Science connected Spencer's shoes from the arrest to an impression made at the Arrowhead Food Mart he robbed on March 5, 2022. Those shoes could also be seen in all six armed robberies Spencer had committed.
Several months before the robbery spree, Morgan had completed a 10-year prison sentence for a previous armed robbery. Spencer had also been previously convicted of an armed robbery. In 2012, Spencer robbed the Golden China restaurant in Norfolk where he struck a victim in the head. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with 8 years suspended.
Ross was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in the conspiracy. Griffin was sentenced to 15 years for his role. Morgan is to be sentenced on November 17. Lockhart will be sentenced on February 2, 2024.