Crime & Safety

3 Illinois Football Players Charged Over 'Prank' Robbery

The suspended student-athletes allegedly robbed the dorm room of a fellow student with a BB gun Wednesday.

URBANA, IL — Three University of Illinois football players who allegedly donned masks and robbed the dorm room of an acquaintance with a BB gun early Wednesday morning have been forbidden from leaving the state as a condition of their bond. The suspended trio was arraigned in court the following day on one count each of felony residential burglary and aggravated robbery over an incident they told police was a prank on a fellow student, the Champaign News-Gazette reported.

Zarrian J. Holcombe, 19, Howard E. Watkins, 18, and Darta L. Lee, 18 were all wearing masks and dark clothes when they entered the unlit room of a 19-year-old man's in an on-campus residence hall around 1 a.m. Wednesday and held him against the wall and robbed him of cash, prosecutors said. Lee and Holcombe both pleaded not guilty to the charges while Watkins' lawyer was not present and is scheduled to return to court Friday, according to WCIA.

The alleged robbery plan began unraveling extraordinarily quickly.

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Champaign police said they were dispatched to Bromley Hall at 3:20 a.m. for a report of a home invasion. Within a few hours, the three players were arrested. Police told the News-Gazette they believe Holcombe brandished the pellet gun, which the victim thought was a real firearm, while Lee went through the victim's dresser and Watkins rifled through the man's wallet.

Champaign police Lt. Dave Shaffer said the victim recognized the voice of one of the masked intruders, who removed his mask and "tried to make light of the situation," according to the News Gazette.

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Champaign County first state's attorney Steve Ziegler said the victim identified and called out both Holcombe and Lee by name before they ran out of his room. Then, after the alleged holdup, he told investigators he followed them out into the hallway and saw them without their masks, the News Gazette reports.

Ziegler said the trio described the incident as a "prank or a joke," according to the Associated Press.

Holcombe and Lee (who had six appearances and two starts last season for the Illini) are freshman. Both had previously been suspended from the football team for violations of team rules, according to a statement from Illinois coach Lovie Smith. Watkins graduated from a Cincinnati high school early and enrolled this semester as Illinois for spring workouts.

"These allegations, if true, fail to live up to the standards we expect of our student-athletes," Smith said Wednesday. "We continue to gather information and will take appropriate steps based upon what we learn."

Judge Brett Olmstead Thursday set bond at $150,000 for the three teens, who each face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on both charges. He denied a request from Assistant Public Defender Ramona Sullivan to allow the players to leave the state—Holcombe and Lee come from Texas and Watkins has a listed address in Ohio.

» Read more from the Champaign News-Gazette


Top photo | (From left) Darta Lee, Zarrian Holcombe, Howard Watkins | Champaign Police Department


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