Two Falls women, charged in connection with a vicious attack on a female manager inside a Tim Hortons restaurant at Pine Avenue and Hyde Park Boulevard last year, have pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement with Niagara County prosecutors.
Brittny Robinson, 37, and Brionna Harris, 30, each pleaded guilty to a single count of attempted second-degree burglary, a D-class felony. The charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 7 years in state prison.
However, Niagara County Court Judge Caroline Wojtaszek told the women she would cap any potential prison time at no more than two years behind bars. Robinson and Harris could also potentially be sentenced to probation.
The pair, along with a 13-year-old girl who faced charges in Niagara County Family Court, was originally charged by Falls police with second-degree gang assault, a C-class felony. Had they been convicted on that original charge, they would have faced a prison term of up to 15 years.
Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman said that based on the evidence in the case, which showed the two women entering a restricted portion of the restaurant to attack the manager, the burglary charge was “the strongest one available to us.”
Falls Police Criminal Investigation Division detectives arrested Robinson and Harris after they were able to identify them in a cell phone video recorded during the attack on the 42-year-old coffee shop manager on the evening of May 28, 2023. The video was widely posted and shared on social media.
Then Falls Police Superintendent John Faso said the cell phone video recording was critical to arresting and charging Robinson and Harris.
“I’m extremely proud of the work that (retired) Detective Capt. John Conti and our investigators did,” Faso said at the time of the incident. “The camera doesn’t lie. That’s why we rely on our body cameras. It’s everybody’s right to record in public, but then we’re able to use that footage in a case like this.”
The 13-year-old girl, who was not identified under the terms of New York’s Raise the Age Law, was also charged with second-degree gang assault. The disposition of her charge was not immediately available.
The attack left the restaurant manager seriously injured and hospitalized. The victim has been described as “healing” from her injuries.
Detectives said that in addition to the cell phone video, they were also able to review video of the incident captured by security cameras inside the restaurant.
The cell phone video showed the incident unfolding outside the restaurant as a white SUV pulled into the parking lot. The driver of the vehicle could be seen getting out of the SUV and then entering the restaurant, followed by several other adults and juveniles.
After the suspects engaged in an exchange with workers inside the restaurant, the driver of the SUV could be seen moving around and behind the front counter. Once behind the counter, one suspect approached the victim, who was near a drive-thru window.
The video showed the driver of the SUV and other suspects then grabbing the restaurant manager and repeatedly punching her in the head and body.
Detectives said that shortly before the incident, the manager had ordered a group of juveniles to leave the restaurant after they had become disruptive and unruly. Investigators said one of the juveniles had reportedly felt “disrespected” while leaving the coffee shop.
Investigators indicated that Robinson and Harris were “linked to the juveniles who had been forced to leave the restaurant.”