RESEDA : Murder Suspect Faces New Charges
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A Los Angeles man already being held in a murder case was charged Thursday with stealing a Rolex watch from an official at Reseda High School and then firing a gunshot into a group of students.
Donnie R. Phillips, 22, is expected to be arraigned today on charges of armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in the Aug. 24 incident.
Authorities believe Phillips is the man who posed as a counselor to gain access to the office of Assistant Principal Dimitri Vadetsky. The man said he wanted to enroll a teen-ager, who turned out to be an accomplice to the crime, police said.
Once in Vadetsky’s office, the pair pulled a gun and stole his watch and wallet, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen.
Before they fled in a car, one shot was fired into a group of students, causing minor injuries to one girl, Cohen said.
The accomplice, 17-year-old Arvon D. Williams, pleaded guilty last year to armed robbery. He was prosecuted as an adult and is serving a five-year sentence in state prison.
Phillips is also awaiting trial on charges of killing a man in Santa Monica.
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