Maryland man pleads guilty in Dale City robbery

By Amanda Stewart

Published: July 21, 2008

A Maryland man pleaded guilty in Prince William Circuit Court on Monday for a May 2007 armed robbery at a Dale City gas station.

Jesse James Kearney, 24, of 8512 Snowden Loop in Laurel, Md., pleaded guilty to robbery and use or display of a firearm in commission of a felony.

Prosecutors said that Kearney and a second man robbed the Mapledale BP gas station in Dale City on May 25, 2007.

Kearney, who was wearing a white hooded jacket, was in the convenience store at the gas station around 12:40 p.m., prosecutors said.

After being in the store for a few minutes, Kearney jumped over the counter where a store clerk was working.

His accomplice pushed his way through the door to the clerk’s work area, prosecutors said.

Both men were armed with handguns.

Seeing the guns, the store clerk did not resist the robbery attempt, prosecutors said.

The men took approximately $1,400 in cash from the cash register.

A surveillance camera recorded the robbery on tape.

Police were able to identify Kearney from the video tape.

Police also recovered a pair of sunglasses that Kearney was wearing in the store. The glasses fell off of his face when he jumped over the counter, prosecutors said.

A forensic analyst matched Kearney’s DNA to DNA found on the sunglasses.

Kearney’s sentencing is set for Oct. 10.

He faces up to life in prison for the robbery conviction. For the firearms charge he faces a mandatory sentence of three years in prison.