Lewis Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2018 Murder of Jessie Sumlar
Jacksonville Man Found Guilty of Armed Robbery
Published on: March 22, 2022
Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida
www.sao4th.com
Melissa W Nelson
State Attorney
311 West Monroe Street
Jacksonville, Florida 32202-4242
(904) 255-2500
State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that John Asif was found guilty by a jury of Armed Robbery. Asif now faces up to 30 years in Florida State Prison. The Honorable Tatiana Salvador will schedule a sentencing hearing the week of April 20, 2022.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 22, 2020, Asif entered a Hendricks Avenue gas station and used the restroom. After exiting, Asif brandished a black handgun and approached the front attendant and demanded the employee open the cash registers. Asif took money from the registers before running out the front doors. Surveillance footage inside the store captured the crime. Just before the incident, an officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office noted an empty black BMW in a church parking lot across the street from the gas station. The officer took down the tag number and left, but when he returned the vehicle was gone. The next day, Asif — driving the same black BMW — was arrested during a traffic stop for an unrelated outstanding arrest warrant. During an interview, law enforcement showed Asif surveillance video photos from this robbery and two others — he admitted he was the one in the photos and was arrested on those charges.
The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Jalisa Curtis and LaTesha Campbell.