Two Appalachian State University students are in custody after an armed robbery Wednesday night.
Sophomore advertising major Wyatt Brown was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and junior anthropology major Travis Edgerton was charged with aggravated assault after an apartment on Coffey Street was broken into, according to the police report.
Edgerton was arrested at the scene and Brown turned himself in Thursday “on a voluntary basis,” according to the police report.
At around 7 p.m. Wednesday, Edgerton and Brown allegedly broke into senior mathematics major Eli Solomon’s apartment, demanding drugs and money.
Kodiak Waldorf is a former student who lives with Solomon. Waldorf was asleep in the apartment when the alleged attackers entered.
Waldorf said he woke up when they entered, but didn’t think anything of it because people come in and out of their apartment regularly, but then realized they were wearing ski masks and latex gloves.
“All I got out was, ‘what’s up?’ and they were on me,” Waldorf said.
Waldorf said they attacked him with a hammer and what he assumes was a police baton demanding that he tell them where he kept “the money and the drugs.”
Solomon said he thought it was a joke at first, but then realized he was getting robbed.
As this was happening, Waldorf sprinted out of the apartment to his neighbors for help.
“As I’m coming back to the door, they are on their way out,” Waldorf said. “The first guy is holding a hammer, so I stop. He gets about four steps to run when our buddy Patrick wraps him up and stops him.”
Junior health promotions major and Navy veteran Patrick Cook held a robber down while Waldorf ran after the second suspect. Cook said he was in the apartment above Waldorf when he ran out pounding on the neighbors’ doors for help.
“I just grabbed the first one I could,” Cook said. “I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I couldn’t hesitate. Ultimately, I would want someone to help me if I was in that situation.”
Waldorf said he then ran after the second suspect and wrestled with him trying to detain him, as well. He caught up with him in the street, but was unable to hold him.
Solomon and Waldorf said they had no idea why the attack was aimed at them, and they had almost nothing of value in the apartment.
Both suspects were placed on a $100,000 secured bond and their court date was set for Dec. 18, 2012, according to a press release.
Waldorf said that they were affected by the incident.
“You don’t expect things like that to happen at 7 p.m.,” Waldorf said. “It was a little harder to go to sleep that night, but I don’t believe that fear should control your life. I’m not going to live my life in fear. If it happens again, hopefully I’ll react better than the time before.”
Story: JOSHUA FARMER, Senior News Reporter