2 accused of armed assault, robbery
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — Two Slippery Rock University students are behind bars in the alleged pistol-whipping robbery of a man Thursday night at an off-campus apartment complex.
State police are seeking a third suspect, apparently also an SRU student, in the same altercation at The Grove apartments that left the victim hospitalized with a fractured skull.
The defendants made off with $100, investigators said.
Troopers on Friday arrested Xavier A. Brown, 21, and Duy Q. Nguyen, 22, both of Slippery Rock.
District Judge Lewis Stoughton later arraigned both men on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, all felonies.
Additionally, they are charged with reckless endangerment, theft, receiving stolen property, simple assault and harassment.
Stoughton on Friday also issued an arrest warrant for Troy Levelle Moon, 21, of Slippery Rock on similar charges.
Brown and Nguyen are in the Butler County Prison on $250,000 bond each.
Police said they were called by staff at Grove City Medical Center around 11:55 p.m. Thursday after the victim, a 24-year-old Pittsburgh man, showed up there with a head wound.
He told authorities he was struck by an object and robbed at The Grove on Harmony Road in Slippery Rock Township.
“We believe the victim was the target,” police Cpl. Tim Morando said Friday.
The man was later transported by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital with a skull fracture. Morando said he believed the man was admitted in serious condition.
The victim told investigators that he had earlier called Nguyen, a friend, and the two agreed to meet at an apartment “to resolve some past issues,” according to charging documents.
There, the victim recounted, he and Nguyen started to argue and at some point, Nguyen pulled out a handgun, the documents said.
A brief news release issued by police Friday night, however, identified Brown as pulling a gun on the victim.
The victim said he began to wrestle over the gun. According to the victim's account, an unidentified man came up from behind and struck him in the head.
“As they were all wrestling,” documents said, “(the victim) was struck in the head by the gun, and it discharged inside the apartment.”
The fired bullet struck the ceiling, police said.
The victim alleged that during the scuffle, either Nguyen or the unidentified man took $100 out of one of his pants pockets. Police said they believe Brown and Moon were also in the apartment.There were apparently others in the apartment, including two of the tenants.The victim eventually managed to get out and got a ride to the Grove City Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.A campuswide email was sent to SRU students and faculty early Friday morning, reporting the suspected robbery. The email also noted that the victim was not a student at the university and reported there was “no threat to the community.”Police spoke to one of the apartment's tenants, a 20-year-old man, who told them he was in his bedroom playing a video game when he heard people in the living room. He checked and saw the three defendants and one of his roommates.The tenant told investigators that he went back into his bedroom and shortly afterward heard a commotion coming from the living room area, police said. He also heard one gunshot.He opened the bedroom door long enough to see a group of people wrestling around the living room/kitchen area. He locked the bedroom door, crawled out the window and left the apartment.Police said that during the investigation they also interviewed the other tenant, a 22-year-old man, who was in the apartment at the time of the incident.He recounted that the three defendants arrived together, supposedly to use the living room to record a music video, police said.He also told police that he was studying in his bedroom when he heard more people come into the apartment. He later heard a “loud scuffle” in the living room, documents said, and then a gunshot.He listened as people left the apartment. When it got quiet, he told police, he left the apartment and met up with the other roommate.The older roommate admitted that he returned and cleaned up blood he found in the apartment. He acknowledged he is on probation, police said, and was afraid of getting into trouble.He also acknowledged that all three defendants contacted him after the incident.“Nguyen told him not to say anything to the police if he is questioned,” documents said.Brown, according to the tenant's account, “related they planned on robbing the victim and apologized for everything that happened,” documents said.During the investigation, police spoke to a witness who lives at the apartment complex. Police said the witness told them he heard a noise outside around the time of the incident.The witness said he later saw three people, whose descriptions matched those of the defendants, run out of the apartment where the altercation took place. One of the men, he said, was holding a gun.At their arraignments, Brown and Nguyen told Stoughton they both are enrolled at SRU. Nguyen said he is a senior safety management student.Preliminary hearings for Brown and Nguyen are tentatively scheduled for Nov. 20 at the office of District Judge Bill O'Donnell in Slippery Rock. It was unclear if any of the defendants have attorneys.
