Narre Warren wannabe gangsters: Luke Bokos and Jonah Reincastle plead guilty to armed robbery
Budding criminals used a fake Snapchat drug deal to rob a Carrum Downs man by shoving a gun down his throat. But — just as they demanded the victim’s phone, password and bank account details — the plan came unstuck.
South East
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A wannabe southeast gangster crew concocted a fake social media drug deal then robbed a Mount Martha man by gunpoint.
Jonah Reincastle, 20, and Luke Bokos, 18, both pleaded guilty at the County Court on February 18 to armed robbery.
Reincastle and Bokos plotted the heist while at the home of their 17-year-old co-accused on June 20 last year.
The trio contacted their victim via Snapchat and Facebook Messenger after they heard he had “received a quantity of money”.
They offered to sell him two bottles of Xanax for $370.
The victim agreed to the bogus deal after Bokos sent him a picture of Xanax downloaded off the internet.
Bokos drove his accomplices to the victim’s Mount Martha home.
The victim handed his wallet to Reincastle then climbed in the back seat.
He said he needed to go to an ATM to withdraw more money.
The 17-year-old bandit – who cannot be named for legal reasons – pretended to be asleep but sprung to life as the victim got in the car.
He allegedly pulled out a “military style” imitation gun and threatened the victim, the court heard.
“Lag on us we’ll kill your family,” he said.
He then allegedly shoved the gun down into his victim’s throat for “about 30 seconds” and told the victim to repeat their “crew name”.
Bokos then drove to a carpark near Mount Martha Village.
The trio demanded the victim’s phone, password and bank account details.
The frightening ordeal ended after police patrolling the area pulled up alongside the car.
The victim told police the gun looked real and he thought he would be shot.
Bokos and Reincastle admitted going to Mount Martha to rob their victim but denied knowing the gun was in the car.
Bokos, an ice addict from Upper Beaconsfield, told police he felt “ashamed and bad for the kid”.
He said he robbed the victim “just to get some money”.
“I lost my job, it’s been tough lately,” he said.
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Reincastle, also an ice addict, told police he felt “disappointed in himself” and he just “did it for drugs”.
The 17-year-old will face a children’s court over his alleged role in the incident.
Judge Carolene Gwynn will sentence both men at a later date.