Three Saint Louis University students found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time on Jan. 19 when a pair of armed men allegedly robbed a male student just inside the Village Apartments complex. A few minutes later, those same men allegedly appeared behind juniors Thomas Bloom and Lauren Araujo as they were unloading groceries in the alleyway behind Iggy’s. At first, Araujo said that the men were acting as though they were going to help them unload groceries. When they refused, one of the men allegedly pulled out a gun, put it to Bloom’s chest and demanded their things.
At that point, Bloom said that Araujo used a few choice words to express her anger over what was happening. As it was her 21st birthday, Araujo said she then pulled out the bottle of tequila she had just purchased in celebration, handed it to one of the men and reportedly told him to “Take this, get drunk and go to hell.”
Bloom said the men seemed antsy to get away as quickly as possible, so at that point he said they just reached into his and Araujo’s pockets and took what they could—her keys, and his video camera and wallet—before running east down the alleyway.
Both robberies allegedly took place shortly after midnight on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 19, and although the suspects did display a handgun, no one was hurt. Department of Public Safety officers spotted suspicious characters getting into a car, and took down the license plate number. Shortly thereafter, the men in the car were pulled over and arrested.
DPS sent out an email blast to the SLU community when the robbery involving Bloom and Araujo was reported, DPS Director Michael Lauer said.
DPS was unaware of the first robbery until about 1.5 hours after the fact, at which point they decided not to send out a second email about it because the suspects had already been apprehended, and so “they posed no danger to the community,” Lauer said. Araujo praised DPS for how quickly they reacted to the incident.
Although only two men were involved with the actual robberies, three suspects are currently in custody since the robbers had assistance; Lauer didn’t elaborate, since investigations are still ongoing, but he said that there is a warrant out for the arrest of a fourth person.
The St. Louis Police Department named Michael Ware, 18, of the 3000 block of Thomas, as a suspect in the crimes. Ware is charged with three counts of first degree robbery and three counts of armed criminal action, and is being held on $125,000 bond.
The Department did not provide any information about any other suspects before press time. Calls to the detective for the case were unreturned at press time, as well. Check www.unewsonline.com for updates as they become available on this case.
After Monday night, Bloom said that, “in the future, I’ll definitely be looking [over] my shoulder in that alley,” and that it was a bit unsettling to have something like that happen to him, since it’s easy to feel like “[you’re] in a bubble” on campus. Araujo said that they were still a little jumpy, but that it would wear off eventually.
