Lost bet fuels shooting
Loser of $100 football wager pulled gun on winner outside store, Lauderhill police say
A man who lost a bet on a football game and then shot the winner is facing a charge of attempted murder, Lauderhill police said.
Booker T. Roberts, 34, is accused of shooting Alphonso Palmer in the stomach outside a Kwik Stop Food Store in Lauderhill on Dec. 12, according to the arrest report filed in the case.
Fromhis hospital bed at BrowardHealth Medical Center, Palmer told detectives it was not the first time Roberts— who Palmer knew only as “BT” — threatened him with a gun, the report stated.
Palmer told police he sometimes bought drugs from Roberts and Roberts pulled a gun and threatened him on several occasions, investigators said.
In this case, Roberts lost a $100 bet on the Dallas Cowboys when the New Patriots beat them 30-6 on Oct. 11. Roberts paid Palmer, but wasn’t happy about it, detectives said.
The grudge escalated to the point where Roberts confronted Palmer at the convenience store and started “talking trash.” Palmer saw the gun and told Roberts to step outside, put the gun down, and fight like a man, police said.
Roberts struck Palmer in the head with the gun then fired a shot but missed. A second shot hit Palmer in the stomach. He fell to the ground then stumbled into the store to call 911, investigators said.
While hiding inside a parked car, one witness sawthe shooting and told police he sawRoberts tuck the blackhandguninto his waistband before driving away, detectives said.
The store’s surveillance cameras also recorded the argument and shooting.
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Police were able to recover two .40 caliber bullet casings in the parking lot, officials said.
A second witness knew Roberts, identified him, and told detectives where his mother lived in Lauderhill, police said.
A Fort Lauderdale police officer spotted Roberts driving a gray, 2010 Nissan on Jan. 29. His attempt to make a traffic stop failed when Roberts sped away. Roberts dumped the car and ran off but was eventually caught, police said.
He is being held without bond, according to jail records.
Roberts has been convicted of grand theft, burglary, shoplifting, drug possession, assaulting several police officers, battery, fraud, resisting arrests, and driving with a suspended and revoked license, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrest record that’s nearly 100 pages long.
Staff researcher BarbaraHijek contributed to this report.
wkroustan@tribpub.com or 954-356-4303