UPDATE: Allen was sentenced to 30 years, with 27 years and 2 months suspended, leaving 2 years and 10 months to serve, conditioned upon 30 years of good behavior and supervised probation.
Joshua Allen's robbery charge was waived to Circuit Court for June 22, 2015, according to Prosecutor Scott Lang. The firearm charge was dropped due to lack of evidence. No one testified, Lang says.
Virginia Beach, Va. - A man who admitted to NewsChannel 3 and WGNT that he robbed a bank will appear in a Virginia Beach courtroom today.
The search for Joshua Allen led to a young boy being bitten by a police dog.
Police arrested Joshua Allen last month. They say he's the guy who robbed the Wells Fargo on Independence Boulevard. The search for him following that bank robbery led to a young boy being bitten by an officer's K-9.
Video from the hotel on Northampton Boulevard shows that boy running through a breezeway and right into the officer's dog.
That boy was taken to the hospital and had to get several stitches.
From jail, Joshua Allen not only told NewsChannel 3 he robbed the bank, but said he was taking the blame for what happened to the boy.
"I feel responsible for that and I feel as though if I didn't do what I did, none of this would've happened."
He says he was desperate.
"I know it was wrong, but at the time, like I said, if you don't have food, if you don't have shelter, if you don't have warmth for long enough your mind starts thinking in different directions than you normally think."
Allen says after the robbery, he got a room at America's Best Value Inn on Northampton Boulevard. Police came looking for him .
Virginia Beach Police Chief Jim Cevera called the incident an accident. Officers were worried Allen was armed and violent -- that's the reason why there was a police dog.
"Because the dog was in what we call work mode. At that moment in time, that dog is going to work. "
Related:
Admitted bank robber on Virginia Beach K9 attack: ‘I feel responsible’
