Teen Who Agrees To Pose With Wads Of Cash Is Robbery Victim
Friday, August 5, 2022
Two youths have been arrested for aggravated robbery of a 17-year-old they had asked to pose with them with wads of cash for an Instagram post.
The victim told police a friend contacted him and asked him to teach him how to profit from watching currency rates and online trading. The victim said he has known the friend since eighth grade, when they both attended Red Bank High School. He said the friend told him his birthday was coming up and he would like to take some pictures of them holding large amounts of cash, for notoriety, to post on Instagram.
The victim had recently posted several pictures on his Instagram account of him holding large amounts of cash.
He told police at approximately 11 p.m. on July 29, he was picked up from his house in a gold SUV. He said he got into the back seat on the driver's side. He said the friend, also 17 at the time, was seated beside him, and he noticed Javarius Watkins, 19, was driving the vehicle. He said a guy he did not know was in the front passenger seat. Unknown to the victim at that time, was that there was another guy concealed in the rear cargo area.
The victim was told they were all going to the friend's auntie's house to change clothes. The victim did not know where the auntie lived and had never been to her house. They drove to the 1700 block of Julian Ridge Road, where the vehicle stopped and the guy hidden in the rear of the vehicle emerged with a gun pointed at the victim. He said the former classmate then grabbed $2,400 cash from his pocket and the front passenger demanded the victim give him his cell phone. He said he refused to do so, at which time the guy with the gun hit him in the head four or five times.
He said he continued to fight until he heard a noise from the gun and the rear passenger told him to give the front passenger his phone or "I'll shoot you." He said he then gave up his cell phone and he was kicked out of the vehicle.
The vehicle sped down Julian Ridge Road, but had to turn around because it was a dead end road. The victim knocked on several doors in an attempt to get help from police and EMS. He was transported to the hospital.
The victim could not identify the other passengers.