Ex-con admits to violent stickup of White Bear Bar

A 33-year-old ex-con has admitted that he was one of three masked men who robbed a White Bear Lake bar at gunpoint over Thanksgiving weekend last year, leaving one customer wounded as two others challenged the St. Paul bandits.

Tyice A. Phillips pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Minneapolis to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a firearm while committing a violent crime.

Phillips' alleged cohorts, convicted felons Percy D. Peters, 43, and Maurice A. Lewis, 41, also have been arrested and charged in the stickup.

According to Phillips' plea agreement and indictments against the other two:

Phillips, Peters and Lewis, all dressed in dark clothing with ski masks or stocking caps pulled down over their faces, entered the White Bear Bar at 2135 4th St. just before closing on Nov. 27. More than 50 patrons were there at the time.

Peters grabbed one customer trying to flee, put a gun to his head and dragged him back inside. The trio then told everyone to "get down" on the floor.

A patron grabbed the barrel of Peters' gun and fought for the weapon. During the struggle, the gun went off and wounded another customer in the thigh.

Phillips and Peters took money from the till, then forced the bar manager to lead them to the office safe, where she handed over bags of cash while a gun was pointed at her head.

The pair took the loot -- $1,495 -- and got into a car, where Lewis waited.

Police followed the car to a nearby apartment parking lot, where the men ran away after the car was driven into a snowbank. One of the patrons briefly ran after the car. Phillips was found by police about 11/2 miles away. The other two were later tracked down and caught.

Phillips' criminal history includes convictions in Ramsey County in 2006 for kidnaping, first-degree aggravated robbery and first-degree burglary. All stemmed from an armed home-invasion robbery. That record makes him subject to 15 years to life in federal prison in the bar robbery. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled.

Peters has been convicted in Minnesota for terroristic threats, second-degree assault, witness tampering and theft. Lewis has felony convictions in the state for drug possession and failure to register as a predatory sex offender connected to a conviction in another state.