CHARLESTON, S.C. – A federal jury in Charleston has returned a guilty verdict against Brandon Lloyd Daniels, 30, of North Charleston, South Carolina, for the 2018 armed robbery of the Tavern and Table restaurant in Mount Pleasant, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. District Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks presided over the three-day trial, which ended late yesterday.
Bennie Mims, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in South Carolina, and Chief Mark Arnold of the Mount Pleasant Police Department join U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.
“Daniels used a gun to rob a restaurant he previously worked at and, in the process, he shot at his former co-workers, seriously injuring one of them. Today’s guilty verdict holds Daniels accountable for his dangerous and reckless criminal actions and ensures that he can no longer pose a threat to the community,” said U.S. Attorney King, whose office is in charge of the prosecution, upon recusal of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.
“The combined efforts of our local and federal agencies have helped bring a very dangerous individual to justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Mims. “ATF is proud to join our law enforcement partners in addressing gun violence and making communities safer.”
“I would like to thank the ATF and U. S. Attorney’s Office for their collaborative effort to ensure the safety of our citizens,” said Chief Arnold.
According to filed court documents and evidence presented at trial, on the evening of April 4, 2018, officers with the Mount Pleasant Police Department responded to reports of a robbery and shooting at the Tavern and Table restaurant, located at 100 Church Street in Mount Pleasant. Trial evidence established that around 11:30 p.m., shortly after the restaurant closed for the evening, Daniels entered the restaurant through the back door wearing a face covering and went into the restaurant’s office, where several employees were gathered. Daniels pointed his firearm at the employees and demanded money. According to trial evidence, Daniels aimed his firearm at the restaurant’s assistant manager and shot him in the lower back. The victim sustained serious, permanent injuries from the gunshot.
Following the shooting, the employees complied with Daniels’ demands and handed him several of the restaurant’s cash drawers. As Daniels fled the scene, he fired two more shots inside the restaurant in the direction of another employee.
The jury convicted Daniels on charges of Hobbs Act robbery, discharging a firearm during and in relation to the robbery, and possessing ammunition while a felon.
This was the second trial in this matter. On October 21, 2021, Judge Hendricks convicted Daniels of possessing a sawed-off shotgun and possessing a firearm while a felon following a bench trial. These convictions stemmed from investigators’ discovery of a sawed-off shotgun in Daniels’ bedroom during execution of a search warrant in connection with the Tavern and Table robbery. Daniels was a convicted felon and not permitted to possess a firearm or ammunition.
Daniels remains in custody. A sentencing hearing for both trial convictions will be set at a later date.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King commended the ATF and the Mount Pleasant Police Department for their investigation of the case and thanked the FBI for their substantial assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Taylor Stout, Regina Pack, and Erik Lindahl, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte, are prosecuting the case.