by Allison McLean
Editor-in-chief
&
Kaity Kopeski
Online Editor
Three Bryan students drove to Knoxville Sunday, March 28, planning to purchase a Playstation 3 for $210 off Craigslist.com. They wound up paying far more than they bargained for.
Senior Andrew Slikker, junior Johnny Cannon and sophomore Victor Underwood arrived at Scottish Pike Park in Knoxville at 6 p.m., as instructed by a man who called himself Jeremy. They then waited an hour for him to arrive.
“We were cutting up and having a good time…and joking around about all the things that could go wrong and the reasons why we should leave,” Slikker said Tuesday.
He admitted that they joked about the possibility of being robbed but felt safe because they were in a public area.
When Jeremy arrived, the students got out of their car and noticed Jeremy pulling a Playstation box from his car.
Meanwhile, Slikker noticed a man wearing a ball cap and a dark hooded sweatshirt pulled tight around his face approaching them from behind.
“I knew as soon as I saw him it was going to happen,” Slikker said.
The man pulled a gun from his sweatshirt, putting it to Cannon’s back and forcing him to the ground. The gunman yelled for the other students to get on the ground and empty their pockets.
Jeremy then accused the students of setting up the robbery.
“Yeah, that’s why he’s robbing us and not you,” Slikker responded.
The gunman stole Cannon’s and Underwood’s wallets, Underwood’s keys and the $210 that Slikker brought for the Playstation.
The gunman then ran off around the corner.
According to Slikker, Jeremy yelled, “I’m going after him,” and sped away in his car in the same direction as the gunman.
The students learned from a witness that the gunman got into Jeremy’s car around the corner—when they were out of the students’ view.
The police apprehended Jeremy, whose real name is John White.
Although the students positively identified White and accused him of being an accessory in the robbery, White claimed that the gunman also robbed him.
The police found a man fitting the description of the gunman at White’s house.
However, because the students were unable to positively identify the man from White’s house as the gunman, the police said they did not have enough “probable cause” to search White’s car or house.
“So, the guys walked,” Slikker said.
The students heard a police officer say that the unidentified man, fitting the description of the gunman, is on parole for second-degree murder.
“The worst part,” Slikker said, “is the embarrassment of letting it happen.”
When asked if he had any advice for future Craigslist users, Slikker said with a smirk, “Meet at the police station.”