Man shot on Lafayette is suspect in Dover robbery

Kerry Joseph

Okiemute “Leo” Omatie ... recovering from bullet wound to chest

ROCHESTER - The man wounded in a brazen daytime shooting on Lafayette Street last month is, himself, alleged to have committed armed robberies on a Dover man and a Rochester woman the same day in June.

Kerry Joseph, 27, with a last known address of New York Street in Dover, was arraigned today in the shooting of Okiemute “Leo” Omatie, 19, of Fifth Street, Dover after being arrested by a joint Fugitive Task Force Aug. 6 in Rhode Island and being extradited back to New Hampshire on Wednesday.

Joseph is alleged to have shot Omatie on July 29 when he allegedly challenged Joseph to a fistfight whereupon he drew a handgun and shot Omatie after he became trapped between two Lafayette Street apartment buildings and was unable to escape.

Omatie fell to the stoop at 42 Lafayette St., a bullet in his chest, where he was found by emergency personnel.

He was Medflighted to Maine Medical Center with what were described as life-threatening injuries from which he is now slowly recovering.

Joseph, known to many as “Bones,” according to a police affidavit, is charged with felony first-degree assault. He is being held at the Strafford County Jail on 100,000 cash bail.

According to a police affidavit filed today, several witnesses noticed a man later identified by police as Joseph at the scene of the shooting. One witness said she watched as Joseph shot Omatie and fled on foot.

Other witnesses also placed Joseph at the scene, one saying he saw the alleged shooter raise his arm and pointing something in the direction of the victim, then heard the sound of a single gunshot. The witness then said he watched as it appeared Joseph tucked something into his shirt and ran from the scene.

The day after the shooting Rochester Police traveled to Maine Med where Omatie said he’d been shot by a man he knew only as “Bones.”

Omatie told police he had only met Joseph a few times and had somehow offended him about two months before the shooting, which, according to the affidavit, “resulted in ‘Bones’ stabbing him in the stomach while they were in Dover.”

Omatie told Police he did not report the stabbing, but soon after met up with Joseph and, seeing he was unarmed, challenged him to a fistfight, which Joseph refused, the affidavit states.

On the day of the shooting Omatie took the bus to Rochester and was walking up Lafayette Street when he saw Joseph on the porch of a home. According to the affidavit, Omatie said he continued walking up Lafayette Street, but that Joseph came off the porch and began to follow him.

Omatie told police that he turned around and challenged Joseph to a fistfight and that Joseph then “flashed” a gun at him so he began to run and ended up trapped between the dwellings at 42 Lafayette and 40 Lafayette where he was shot.

Police say no bullet casing was ever recovered.

Omatie at the time of the shooting was on personal recognizance bail in connection with his involvement in an armed robbery June 15 in Dover in which he robbed a man of a laptop, computer tablet and prescription drugs, including Klonopin. Omatie is said to have tasered, punched and kicked the victim during the robbery.

Tasha Loaiza

An accomplice, Phillip Swanson, 27, was also charged in the.Dover robbery.

Rochester Police arrested Omatie for his involvement in a Rochester armed robbery earlier in the day in which he allegedly stole money, a computer tablet and drugs from a Rochester woman, but those charges were nol prossed.

Omatie’s alleged accomplice in the Rochester incident, Tasha Loaiza, 21, of 17 Norway Plains Road #43, Rochester, is currently being sought by law enforcement after she was found to have violated bail conditions last month. A bench warrant for her arrest was filed a week ago today.