MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A University of Memphis student says he can’t sleep and is afraid to go outside after he and a friend were robbed at gunpoint outside their apartment complex next to the school.
Police said seven people were held up in two separate robberies in the U of M area late Monday night.
The first happened at an Apartment Complex in the 3600 block of Mynders Avenue.
Bhanu Muppalla said he and a friend were held up by three people in a black Lexus who wanted everything they had on them.
“We were walking to our apartments, and somebody came to us with a gun and said give me your car, give me your car keys, your wallets. Everything valuable you have,” said Muppalla.
He said they left with his iPhone and his friend’s wallet.
“It was very, very scary,” Muppalla said. “We were like we don’t have anything more. Don’t shoot us.”
Police said ten minutes later, the same suspects in the same black Lexus carjacked a driver at an apartment building in the 3600 block of Southern Avenue.
The driver told officers he was unloading groceries when two men with guns approached him and his four passengers and demanded his vehicle.
The victim said the suspects fled in the Lexus and his Camry.
The suspects didn’t get very far, though. Police say Muppalla was able to track his stolen iPhone, and officers located the Lexus, which had been abandoned at Southern and Houston. They also spotted the Camry at Highland Mynders.
Officers said they were able to stop the Camry and took Christan Young, 22, and Johnashia Batts,19, into custody. However, a third suspect got away.
Police said the black Lexus the suspects were driving was taken during a robbery in front of a business in the 900 block of Kelly Road Sunday night.
No one at the C & F Systems wanted to be identified but said they’ve been putting up security cameras and fencing off potential hiding places around their building since the robbery.
Muppalla said he no longer feels safe after the robbery and is ready to move.
“We didn’t get hurt, but we had depression,” said Muppalla. “We can’t even go outside because we think they might come back again.”
Young and Batts are charged with carjacking, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
Young’s bond was set at $250,000, and Batts is being held on a $75,000 bond.
If you know anything about the robberies, call CrimeStoppers at (901)-528-CASH