On February 27, 2006, a lone gunman robbed Foster’s Too, a bar in West Palm Beach, Florida. He fled with the contents of the cash register.
Witnesses said the robber was a white man with a tattoo on his neck. One witness said the tattoo looked like Chinese characters. Another said the robber had a tattoo on his right hand.
A ski mask was found in an alley nearby. Although the robber had not worn a mask, the police sent it out for DNA analysis because a nearby Dollar General had been robbed that same night by a man wearing a ski mask.
Not long after, an informant told the police that 21-year-old Cody Davis was bragging about committing robberies. Davis had a tattoo on his neck, but it was his first name in script lettering. He had no tattoo on his hands.
Police created a photographic lineup that contained Davis’s photograph. He was the only person in the lineup with a tattoo on his neck. Two witnesses, including the bartender, identified Davis as the robber.
In October 2006, Davis went to trial in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Two witnesses identified Davis as the robber. The informant testified that Davis had been boasting of committing robberies.
On October 16, 2006, a jury convicted Davis of armed robbery. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
Four months later, DNA testing was completed on the ski mask. Davis was excluded, and the DNA profile of 35-year-old Jeremy Prichard was identified.
Prichard, who had a distinctive tattoo on his hand, was in the Palm Beach County Jail on unrelated charges. When investigators questioned Prichard, he confessed to the Foster's Too robbery, as well as three other bar robberies. The District Attorney’s Office immediately filed a motion to vacate Davis’s conviction.
On March 9, 2007, the conviction was vacated, the case was dismissed and Davis was released.
Prichard later pled guilty to several robberies, including the holdup at Foster’s Too. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
– Maurice Possley
Posting Date: 08-29-2011
Last Update Date: 07-22-2026
