photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Domanick J. Hall, pictured in 2019

A Lawrence man accused of flashing a gun at a bar downtown and stealing a bike from a family’s garage was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday.

Domanick James Hall, 21, recently agreed to a plea deal that dismissed multiple other cases in Douglas County District Court.

In the cases for which he was sentenced, Hall was charged with aggravated burglary, for stealing a bicycle from a family’s garage on June 24, and aggravated assault, for flashing a gun and threatening an employee at Jazzhaus on June 26.

A woman had reported to police that she had surveillance footage showing a man coming into her garage while her husband and two minors were home and riding away on her bicycle. Police identified Hall from the video footage, and he reportedly told them he was tired of walking, saw the bike and took it, according to documents in that case. He must pay $690 in restitution for the bicycle as part of his sentence.

In the other case, Hall had been kicked out of Jazzhaus, 926 Massachusetts St. An employee told police that as he was preventing Hall from re-entering the bar, Hall lifted up his shirt to reveal a silver handgun in his right pants pocket and said “I don’t want to shoot up the bar.”

During the sentencing Wednesday, prosecutor Eve Kemple told Judge Amy Hanley that the victims in those cases chose not to attend the hearing, but she said the family felt that they were in danger after the burglary and that they weren’t safe in their own home. She said the bar employee said the gun threat was quite troubling for him.

In one of the dismissed cases, Hall had been accused of stealing a car and some property from the home of someone he was staying with. In three others, Hall had been charged with battery on a law enforcement officer for incidents that allegedly occurred while he was in custody at the Douglas County Jail.

Hall, who had pleaded no contest to the two charges, told Hanley Wednesday that he was sorry for his actions and that he’d use his time in prison wisely and try to finish his education. He said he hoped to come out a better person in many ways.

Hanley ruled Wednesday that Hall must serve 60 months for the aggravated burglary charge, eligible for a 15% good time credit, concurrent with a 24-month sentence for aggravated assault, eligible for a 20% good time credit.

The sentence was a slight departure from what would have been presumed to be 62 to 69 months under Kansas sentencing guidelines. Hall’s appointed defense attorney, J. Philip Crawford, requested the departure, Kemple agreed to it and Hanley said she did find reason for it. She said Hall had taken responsibility for his actions, both parties thought the plea agreement was fair, and had the six cases Hall previously had pending all gone to trial, it would have been at substantial cost to the state.

Hanley encouraged Hall to get involved with all the programs available to him in prison. She said she wasn’t going to lecture him about his offenses, but that he should think about what his actions had caused.

Hall will face 36 months of post-release supervision, and he must register as a violent offender for 15 years after he is released. He has credit for about 4 1/2 months served in jail.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office had previously declined to release Hall’s booking photo, citing as the reason that the record is not required to be disclosed under the Kansas Open Records Act. It released Hall’s booking photo after he agreed to the plea.