An Austin man who participated in a robbery and led officers on a high-speed chase that reached 100 mph was found guilty Thursday in Freeborn County District Court.

Joshua James Allen, 31, was convicted of first-degree aggravated robbery after a three-day jury trial. The jury’s verdict was read at about 7 p.m. Thursday, said Freeborn County Attorney David Walker.

Allen pleaded guilty to fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle Tuesday before the trial started.

Court documents state Allen and Tony Viramonh were charged after Albert Lea police officers were dispatched the evening of June 24 to an address on Second Street for a report of a burglary in progress.

Court documents state the alleged victim carried a TV to a white SUV and told someone Viramonh and Allen robbed him with guns.

Allen and Viramonh knew the alleged victim.

The victim told an officer Allen grabbed him around the throat and pushed him into a wall before Viramonh pointed a 9mm handgun at his head. Allen took $200 from the victim’s pockets, released him and pulled out a handgun. The two men pistol-whipped the victim in the head and chest, ordering him to put his TV in Allen’s vehicle.

In the chase that followed the robbery, speeds reached 100 mph on Southeast Broadway Avenue while officers pursued with emergency lights and sirens activated. The vehicle made multiple turns and ran multiple stop signs during the chase that lasted more than 20 minutes and nearly 30 miles.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 2. Walker said Allen is expected to be sentenced to nearly 7 1/2 years in prison, but that will depend on his criminal history score.

Viramonh pleaded not guilty to first-degree aggravated robbery, being an ineligible person in possession of a firearm and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle Aug.1.

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Friday, and a jury trial is scheduled for Sept. 25, if the case has not been settled by then.

 

See what happened last night in the PM report here.