Arraignment set for pair charged with deadly pawn shop robbery

After a preliminary hearing for two men accused in a deadly 2016 Vallejo pawn shop robbery that ended in the store owner's gunshot slaying, the wounding of an employee and the death of the store's dog, a judge has set a held-to-answer arraignment for the pair.

Amonie Azoun Andre Summerise, 27, of Vallejo, and Kashius Tait Brazeal, 25, a state prison inmate formerly of Vallejo, appeared Thursday in Department 2 in Vallejo for the hearing, a sort-of minitrial, with the presentation of evidence and witness testimony.

Afterward Judge Daniel Healy determined there was enough evidence to hold the two men for the arraignment and set it for 10 a.m. May 18 in the Justice Building. At that time, the judge will hear a Pitchess motion, a request by the defense to examine the personnel records of police officers involved in the case, typically if an officer or officers are suspected of excessive use of force.

After the arraignment, a judge in a criminal case usually sets a trial date and dates for additional pretrial matters or motions.

During the past 26 months, amid the ongoing pandemic, Solano County courts officials reduced court operations and rescheduled proceedings, as necessary, in accord with county, state, and state Supreme Court public health directives, which may account for delays in the case.

As the case has wound its way through the courts, proceedings against a suspected third person originally charged, Elijah Elliott Summerise, 24, brother of Amonie, were dismissed Sept. 11, 2019, court records indicate.

Brazeal and the elder Summerise remain in Solano County Jail without bail.

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Flynn has led the prosecution of the case, which falls under the special circumstances category because the killing was committed during a robbery, a crime caught on the store's video surveillance camera. The two defendants face the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole, if convicted at trial. It is still unclear if Flynn will pursue the death penalty.

After proceedings in October 2019, the defense lawyers for the elder Summerise, Robert Boyle and Sean Swartz, deputy alternate public defenders, confirmed that “the death penalty is still on the table.” Because the charges make it a potential death penalty case, they were assigned to represent Summerise together.

Vallejo criminal defense attorney Dustin M. Gordon represents Brazeal, who has been transferred from Calipatria State Prison, where he is serving time for a prior felony conviction.

Summerise was arraigned earlier in Department 4 in Fairfield and pleaded not guilty to the charges and special allegations.

Despite Swartz's claim about the status of the allegations against Amonie Summerise, court records indicate that, besides first-degree murder and attempted murder charges, his client faces three counts of second-degree robbery. The elder Summerise also is accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Besides murder and attempted murder counts, Brazeal is charged with second-degree robbery, being a felon in possession of a firearm, stemming from a prior conviction in Santa Clara County, and a charge of killing the store's dog.

Vallejo police records indicate officers responded at about 3:10 p.m. Dec. 20, 2016, to reports of a possible robbery in progress at the Pawn Advantage Store on Springs Road.

Store owner Timothy Pult, 49, of San Anselmo, and shop employee Josh Poole, of Fairfax, were found inside, each suffering from gunshot wounds. Pult's dog, Copper, a Chesapeake Bay retriever, was found shot to death near the store entrance.

Police originally released a surveillance video of the robbery in Jan. 2017 in an effort to identify the suspects. In July, they released 24 seconds of footage that showed two men enter the shop, their faces covered, guns in their hands.

The publicly available footage doesn't show the shootings, but it shows the suspects quickly leaving the store, with one of them turning back and pointing his weapon at the dog before the video ends.

Pult was pronounced dead at the scene while Poole, who uses a wheelchair, was transported to a local trauma center. Poole, 45 at the time, survived but, for a time, continued to receive medical treatment for his wounds.

The Summerises were taken into custody in Vallejo on July 12, 2017. Brazeal was arrested July 16 at the Imperial County state prison, where he is currently serving a sentence for a Yolo County robbery.

Boyle previously said the death penalty may still apply in the case, even though Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 issued an executive order suspending capital punishment in California.