Man Gets 12 Years in Prison for 6 Robberies

A 24-year-old Virginia man was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in state prison for robbing six small businesses in North Hollywood and Toluca Lake last year.

Troy Cheeks pleaded guilty on Jan. 3 to seven counts of armed robbery for stealing money from three restaurants, a doughnut shop, a flower shop and a yogurt shop between Jan. 12 and April 26 of last year, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lori P. Dery.

His plea came just after Dery completed her opening statement in his trial.

Cheeks also pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder for shooting Louis Enrique Torres in the shoulder during the Feb. 11 robbery of Little Caesar’s Pizza restaurant, at 10600 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood. Dery said Torres, a restaurant employee, had thwarted an earlier attempt by Cheeks to rob the restaurant.

Dery said Cheeks usually posed as a customer and often ordered something from his victims. Then, when the businesses were virtually empty, he returned to the checkout counter and demanded money. In some cases, he handed the employees a note, saying that he would kill them if they did not cooperate, Dery said.

However, on Jan. 12, Torres refused to give Cheeks money and instead challenged Cheeks to show him his gun, Dery said. Cheeks said he was joking and did not have a gun, then left the restaurant. He returned a month later and shot Torres in the shoulder.

Cheeks was arrested on April 26, the day he robbed Melanie Krumm, a Toluca Lake florist. Later that evening, Krumm went to work out at a Nautilus Plus in Studio City, and she spotted Cheeks in the gym. She notified the health club manager, who took down Cheeks’ license plate number.

Police arrested him at his home later that evening.