Two people have been arrested after a robbery was committed just off the University of Maryland campus early Saturday morning.
Prince George's County Police say that Akauh Johann Kassi of Silver Spring and Diamante Akeem Sulaiman of Burtonsville have been charged with robbery, second degree assault, and related charges. Authorities say that they admitted to their role in the robbery during an interview with Prince George's County Police detectives
Investigators say that two University of Maryland students were walking along Pontiac Street, near the intersection of Baltimore Avenue, when Kassi and Sulaiman walked up behind them and asked if they had any money. The students did not respond, and were soon attacked and robbed by the suspects, who took the students' cell phones and a wallet. The victims were not reported to have been injured, and no identifying information about them has been released.
Later Saturday, the suspects were among a group of people stopped by officers from Prince George's County Police and University of Maryland Police. Authorities say that the men were not far from the site of the robbery and a stolen cell phone and wallet were found on the ground nearby.
The University sent out an email alert to students just after midnight warning of the robbery, which took place about a mile away from campus.
The incident is the latest in a string of armed robberies in College Park. Three students were robbed in two separate incidents earlier this month, while an 18-year-old student is accused of making a false statement to police by claiming that she was robbed. February 5.
The latest incident also comes in the same week as a murder-suicide involving a Maryland graduate student and his housemates.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Prince George's County Police Department at (301) 699-2601.