Three suspects were arrested between Monday night and Tuesday morning following an assault and strong-arm robbery of a female Mississippi State University student.
MSU Police Chief Georgia Lindley said 20-year-old Preston Harris, along with two underage suspects, was arrested in connection to the incident and was booked at the Oktibbeha County Sherriff’s Department.
“One [of the two others] was 17 and the other was 16,” she said.
She said all three suspects have been charged with robbery, and all three were from the Starkville area. Lindley said the two minors would be charged as adults pending approval from youth court.
“[The suspects were arrested at] different places; they had split up, and they were apprehended in different places within the county at separate times.”
Lindley said MSU detectives arrested the subjects that night at private residences.
“One was around 11 p.m. and the other two were around 4:30 a.m,” she said. “It was a long night.”
The incident occurred on Sorority Row near the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority house about 8:30 p.m.
“A young lady was returning from Jackson [to Starkville] when she realized she had been followed for a while,” Lindley said. “She stopped to park, and when she exited her vehicle, she was struck in the face; her purse was taken and [the assailants] left the scene.”
Lindley said in addition to the victim involved, there were other witnesses to the incident. She said witnesses reported the assailants left the scene in a small black vehicle.
“Our officers responded immediately,” Lindley said. “She [the victim] did not require medical attention.”
She said although the three suspects have been arrested, the investigation is ongoing.
“We’ve been taking statements from other people in the area; there were two residence hall patrol – student employees that work at night,” she said.
Lindley said the cooperation with other law enforcement offices in the area led to the swift apprehension of the three suspects.
“The Starkville Police Department sent two of their investigators and the Oktibbeha County Sherriff’s office, which has county-wide Jurisdiction [also provided assistance],” Lindley said. “They went into the county in locating the vehicle and helped with the processing [of the suspects].”
Heidie Lindsey, Greek life associate director, said she was not familiar with all the information regarded to the incident, but had advised members of the community to be vigilant.
“I did instruct our Panhellenic president to contact everyone on Sorority Row just to make sure that everyone was aware of what happened. Of course, this was before the suspects were apprehended,” Lindsey said.
In an e-mail, associate dean of students Thomas Bourgeois said students should be aware of safety resources available on campus, including a 24-hour escort service offered by MSUPD, emergency phones and residence hall security patrols.
“Students should always be aware of their surroundings and let their roommates or friends know if they will be out late studying or having fun or leaving for the weekend,” he said.
Bourgeois said the decision to issue a campus-wide Maroon Alert was made based on MSU’s protocol for the Crisis Action Team.
“An on-call member received the initial call from MSUPD at which point other members of the Crisis Action Team were activated,” Bourgeois said.
He said he could not be happier with the police cooperation following the incident and the subsequent arrests.
“We have one of the finest and most successful campus law enforcement units in the country,” Bourgeois said.