In the three years that I have been writing for Tattoo Blog, I’ve seen a lot of different things, a lot of strange things and a whole lot of interesting things. But something that has continued to occur in numerous places around the world is crimes against tattoo shops and their owners. From bombings to robberies to outright violent attacks, tattoo shop owners have all too often faced off against no shortage of crazies. I don’t know why this is the case – sometimes I think that some criminals rather stupidly believe that a tattoo studio is an easy target to steal a lot of money from. Fortunately, something else that I’ve noticed about crimes against tattoo studios is that quite often the criminals don’t get away or are brought to justice – either directly by the tattoo artist himself or by the police and court system.
Most recently, I’ve come across a new attack on a tattoo shop. This time it took place in Leominster, Massachusetts at the New Addiction Body Modification Tattoo Shop. In September of 2010, 33-year-old Satron Pridgen and 29-year-old Alexander Rivera turned up at the tattoo shop and attempted to rob owner Joshua Richardson. The robbery failed and Pridgen shot Richardson four times with a .32 calibre handgun. Rivera also had a weapon, though it was only a pellet gun.
‘Mr. Richardson was shot in the hand, buttock and arm, and suffered a graze wound of the scalp, according to Mr. McHugh, who said the victim’s left ring finger had to be amputated because of the hand injury.
The court was told Mr. Richardson was in a struggle for his life with the would-be robbers and the holdup attempt destroyed his business.
Mr. McHugh said Mr. Pridgen admitted being inside the tattoo shop at the time of the shooting, but told police he was there to try to buy marijuana. The prosecutor said Mr. Richardson denied marijuana was for sale on the premises and none was found by police.
Mr. Richardson told investigators that Mr. Rivera, a childhood friend, had been pestering him for some time to broker a marijuana deal for him, and that Mr. Rivera and Mr. Pridgen, whom he did not know, showed up unannounced at his shop on the day of the shooting, according to Mr. McHugh.’
Well, for his stupidity, Satron Pridgen was sentenced to 10-12 years imprisonment yesterday. Meanwhile, Alexander Rivera is still awaiting his trial. Glad to see that justice was done here and that Pridgen did not get away with what was essential a completely senseless crime. Nearly killing someone over some weed and a bit of cash? Enjoy prison, dude. And let this be a lesson to any other would be criminals out there thinking that a tattoo shop is an easy target. Tattoo artists are tough as hell, kids. Leave ’em alone!