Three men were arrested in connection with the Nov. 30 daytime robbery of a student in Lot A, when the victim was forced to the ground and his jacket and wallet were stolen.
Police arrested Roy Moment, 19, of Laurel, Ryan Patterson, 16, of Hyattsville and Keino Thompson, 23, of Greenbelt. None of the men have a university affiliation and each was charged with armed robbery, first- and second-degree assault, handgun violation used in a violent crime and illegal use of a credit card.
A university student read the crime alert about the robbery sent to the campus community and contacted police with information that helped lead investigators to the arrest, police said. The student told police he saw two individuals wearing masks getting into a car around the time the robbery occurred.
“It shows how important it is for people who see things to tell us,” said University Police spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell.
Investigators used the information from the student to obtain search warrants for a car and a home in Laurel, police said. Officers found some of the victim’s property in the car.
Later investigations led to the identity of the three men who were arrested and charged. Police obtained warrants to search the residences of two individuals, one home in Greenbelt and the other in Hyattsville. The arrests of the three men were made Saturday morning with help from a State Police tactical team.
The victim, 20, was walking in the parking lot when two of the suspects wearing ski masks approached him from behind and grabbed the victim, forcing him to the ground. The suspects said they had a weapon, but none was displayed. The victim gave his jacket to the suspects, which had his wallet inside
The suspects ran in the direction of the Art-Sociology Building following the incident and later got into a car driven by the third suspect.
