Two men conffess to Sept. 7 robbery
Two men have confessed to the Sept. 7 gunpoint robbery of a State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry student in a parking lot on the 100 block of Smith Lane, said Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department.
Police do not believe the men, Nathaniel Flagg, 17, and Glen Hicks, 19, committed the four near- and on-campus robberies in September, Connellan said.
Police charged Flagg and Hicks each with one count of first-degree robbery and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the Sept. 7 incident, Connellan said.
The investigation of the other four robberies will continue, Connellan said, but declined to provide details on those investigations.
Flagg and Hicks have been in police custody since Oct. 2 when they and a third man, Timothy Glover, 16, were charged with first-degree robbery in connection to another incident on Smith Lane. On Sept. 3, Flagg, Hicks and Glover robbed a group of five men on the 100 block of Smith Lane.
Glover was not charged in the ESF robbery, Connellan said.
In addition to the Sept. 7 robbery linked to Flagg and Hicks, an SU student was robbed the same night behind Heroy Geology Laboratory on the SU campus at 10:15 p.m., less than an hour after Flagg and Hicks allegedly robbed the other student.
Flagg’s past
Flagg, one of the men who confessed to police, has been arrested multiple times, including in connection to an April 6, 2008 robbery of an SU student near the 1100 block of Comstock Avenue, Connellan said. Flagg was charged with second-degree attempted robbery for the incident.
The student was walking from the Vincent Apartments, located at 105 Smith Lane, to a bus stop on Comstock Avenue when he noticed four to five men walking nearby, Connellan said.
The student crossed the street to avoid the group and noticed two men begin to follow him. Flagg and a shorter man attacked the SU student from behind and punched, choked and kicked him. When the victim reported the incident, his lip was cut and his face was bloody, Connellan said.
Published on October 11, 2009 at 12:00 pm
