Georgia Tech police have arrested one man and are seeking another in the robbery of a student at gunpoint in his dorm room.
One of the bandits, Steven Lorenzo “Turk” Terry, had been arrested just days after the July 1 robbery on unrelated charges, police said. Terry was arrested July 4 and charged with battery, cruelty to children and fleeing and attempting to elude police.
On Aug. 17, Georgia Tech police filed arrest warrants for Terry, 33, and Terrance “Boo-Boo” Watley, whose age was not immediately available, in connection with the campus robbery, Tech Deputy Chief Rob Connolly said.
“Investigators identified them through leads, surveillance cameras and Crime Stoppers,” Connolly said. “The case was cleared by investigators following leads and working very hard.”
That’s when they discovered Terry was already in jail, Connolly told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Authorities said they believe that in the early morning of July 1, Watley and Terry followed students through open electronic gates into the North Avenue Apartments complex on Centennial Olympic Park Drive.
They made it up to a student’s room, pushed open an unlocked door and threatened to shoot the male student if he resisted, according to police records. They took his laptop, cell phone, wallet and cash.
The July 1 robbery capped a two-week period of hold-ups around the Tech campus, sparking calls for heightened security from campus and Atlanta police and increased sense of awareness among students.
Between June 21 and June 23, five robberies were reported by people walking on streets near the university. In each incident, victims told police a pair of suspects ran up on them, produced a gun and made off with valuables like computers, mobile phones and credit cards, according to Atlanta police reports.
Though at least one of those victims reported a student’s dorm access card being among the items stolen, police said they have not linked the street robberies to Terry or Watley thus far.
On Aug. 30, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Terry with armed robbery, burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charges.
Since October 2010, Terry has been arrested five times in Fulton, each for violent crimes including family violence and battery, among others.
Watley remains at large. Police are asking that anyone with information that could lead to his arrest to call Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477. Anonymous tips are accepted, and rewards are available for information leading to the suspect’s arrest or to Watley’s and Terry’s prosecution.
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