Police arrest two suspects in Sept. 30 Clark Kerr Campus robbery
| 21 October 2008
BERKELEY — University of California, Berkeley, police today (Tuesday, Oct. 21) announced they have arrested two suspects in connection with the Sept. 30 early morning robbery of two students in their suite at the campus's Clark Kerr residential complex.
The UC Berkeley Police Department (UCPD) identified the suspects as R.J. Garrett, 21, and Gary Doxy, 21, who are UC Berkeley students. They have been arrested on suspicion of robbery and attempted robbery, police said. In addition, Garrett was also arrested for possession of an illegal, stolen weapon unrelated to the campus robbery. Both live in off-campus housing.
Following an investigation by UCPD that linked the stolen property to the suspects, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Garrett and Doxy yesterday by an Alameda County Superior Court judge. The two were taken into custody by UCPD without incident. Bail for each was set at $60,000.
"We reiterate our deep sympathies for the victims of the robbery and hope this case is resolved judiciously. Obviously, we are greatly saddened whenever UC Berkeley students are involved in a criminal act, whether as victims or suspects," said Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Harry LeGrande.
The robbery occurred on Sept. 30 in a suite in Building 17 on the Clark Kerr Campus. Police responded to a report that two male suspects had entered the suite through an open kitchen window and then went into the bedroom of two 18-year-old male students. The robbers demanded a laptop computer and wallet at gunpoint, according to the victims. The suspects fled on foot with the laptop. No one was injured. Yesterday, UCPD said its investigation revealed that the weapon used in the robbery was a BB gun.
Police said their investigation found that the robbery was in response to a number of offensive comments, including racial slurs made at an off-campus party on Sept. 27 by a white male member of the Cal crew team who had been drinking. A female African American student athlete at the party heard the comments and was offended and upset by them.
Garrett and Doxy are African American undergraduates who heard secondhand about the incident at the party. The police believe the break-in was in retaliation for the incident at the party, but that the two students who were robbed were victims of mistaken identity. Although they were outside the party, they were not involved in making the offensive comments, according to police.
"The campus has made it clear through our Principles of Community that racial slurs are deplorable and unacceptable, and that is why we have mechanisms in place to deal with such incidents," said Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion Gibor Basri. "Our office seeks to foster an inclusive and healthy campus climate, and will take further active steps to ensure that campus community members feel welcome and safe."
In addition to the police investigation, campus officials have taken the following actions:
• The student who made the racial slurs at the party was suspended from the crew team shortly after the incident for his conduct and is facing student conduct charges.
• Garrett, a sophomore, who had been suspended from the football team, has since been dismissed, a team spokesman said. Doxy, a junior, is a former member of the team who was dismissed this summer for violating team rules. In addition to the criminal charges, both will face student conduct charges.
"I know that the entire Cal Athletics community shares my profound disappointment in the wake of these incidents. They are contrary to everything we stand for," said Athletic Director Sandy Barbour.
"The suspension of the implicated student-athletes should be viewed as an initial step. It is now my responsibility to make sure that every member of our athletic program fully understands the extent to which these behaviors were, and will always be, completely unacceptable," she said.