A Broadview man whose 2002 attempt to rob a Lombard bank courier involved the shooting of an off-duty police officer was sentenced Monday to 22 years in prison.
Luster Scott, 29, was convicted last year by a DuPage County jury of attempted armed robbery, attempted kidnapping and five weapons charges stemming from the Dec., 11, 2002, incident at the West Suburban Bank, 1122 S. Main St.
Scott was beating up the courier outside the bank when Sgt. Rodney Hampton of the College of DuPage police interceded. He identified himself as an officer and was shot twice in the leg.
“Scott is a gun-toter, a thug and an intimidator his entire life who has never had a verifiable job,” said Assistant State’s Atty. Tim Diamond.
Scott fled, but was apprehended several blocks away about 15 minutes later. Two guns, a 9 mm and a .45-caliber, used in the attempted heist were recovered.
Diamond said Scott was expecting to participate in a drug deal in Lombard, and when that didn’t occur, he decided to rob the bank courier. The courier was not carrying cash, only legal papers.
Hampton recovered from his wounds and returned to work after several months.
Scott was “a violent person with a lifelong criminal record” that included numerous weapons charges and a 2001 Cook County murder charge which was dropped after a Cook County judge ruled his confession was inadmissible at trial, Diamond said.
Judge Michael Burke called Scott, “a non-violent, antisocial individual.”
Scott, who has three children, asked for leniency and said he had become an ordained minister during his two years in the DuPage County Jail.
