VCU students robbed in back-to-back incidents

Five VCU students were robbed last week in two separate incidents, according to a VCU Alert posted Friday by John Bennett, the senior vice president for finance and administration. One Wednesday night robbery took place in Oregon Hill, and the Friday morning robbery took place in Carver.

The Wednesday robbery took place at 10 p.m. on the 800 block of Cumberland Street. Seniors Jarrod Chaplin, a kinetic imaging major, and Ryan Hawkins, an information systems major, were in Oregon Hill on their way back from 7-Eleven when they were held up at gunpoint.

The students saw two men talking and looking at them.

“I really don’t think anything of it, because it’s Cumberland Street. I don’t think too much stuff happens on Cumberland Street,” Hawkins said.

While walking down the street, the robbers tapped them on the shoulder and demanded the student’s money.

Chaplin and Hawkins said the robbers were armed, one with a revolver and one with a semi-automatic handgun.

“The guy with the revolver put it on my chest and backed me against a wall and started searching my pockets,” Chaplin said.

The men took $3 and a Coca-Cola from Hawkins, and from Chaplin they stole $3, his wallet and a brand new $400 Blackberry. When the men ordered them to get on the ground, Hawkins and Chaplin refused, and instead told them they would walk the other away and not pursue them.

The other recent VCU student robbery occurred at 811