Man who made threats at bar pleads guilty to robbery
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An Indianapolis man who made threats at a downtown bar has pleaded guilty to robbery.
Brandon Savage, 27, had charges of intimidation and harassment dropped as part of the plea agreement and was given a suspended sentence with credit for time served in jail.
Court documents said Savage on Feb. 26 had demanded all the cash in the register from a bartender at Olly’s, 822 N. Illinois St., before threatening to shoot up the bar. According to the documents, Savage called Indiana State Police and identified himself saying, “I’m getting ready to go into a gay bar and shoot everyone. It’s going to be like Orlando.”
In summer 2016, an off-duty security guard shot and killed 49 people and injured 53 others in a hate crime inside Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Savage told the sergeant on the phone that he was armed with a Glock, a Derringer and a machete. He also said told police what he was wearing and that they better hurry up.
According to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer who was at the scene, an employee told him that Savage approached the bar and said, “I’m going to hold all of you hostage.” Savage demanded all of the money from the registers, but the employee told him he couldn’t open it without making a sale. The employee then stepped away and call 911.
One witness said that Savage told a bartender, “You know what happened in Orlando? It’s happening right now.”
Prior to Savage’s arrest, he told police that his jacket was near the overpass of I-65 on Illinois Street with a gun in it. No gun was later found.
The guilty plea was accepted and sentencing given Friday in Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division 6.
