Campus Police, in conjunction with Raleigh Police, has spent the last month investigating and apprehending several students involved in student-on-student crimes.

As of Thursday, six students have been arrested on charges including armed robbery, possession of stolen property, breaking and entering, larceny and financial transaction card fraud, according to Campus Police.

The crimes are in relation to the textbook robberies at D.H. Hill Library and the gunpoint robberies that took place in January in front of Reynolds Coliseum and the Wachovia ATM at the bookstore.

Campus Police also noted that Jacoby Pulley, a freshman in computer engineering, has been charged with “one count of misdemeanor financial transaction card fraud” and is still at large.

A nonstudent, Elijah Edwards, is charged with “two counts possession of stolen property” and is also still at large.

Sergeant Jon Barnwell of the Campus Police stressed the importance of the community. He said it needs to “act as our extra set of eyes and ears.”

With the recent apparent increase in crime on campus, Barnwell stated that “we may have made a dent in the University’s crime rate.”

“It is safe to say that a good portion of thefts from D.H. Hill and other petty thefts up to and including the armed robberies can be attributed to this group,” he said. “This has been one of our most fruitful investigations overall. We had good police work — we documented everything.”

Seven out of the nine alleged perpetrators are students, all of whom live at the Avent Ferry Complex. The remaining two “non-affiliated” suspects, including Edwards, live in the surrounding area of the University.

According to Barnwell, during the investigation of the D.H. Hill robberies, a “BOLO,” be on the lookout, was put out for the Ford Explorer with Florida plates belonging to Jereald Harris, a sophomore in computer science.

Coincidently, the Raleigh Police Department also had a “BOLO” out on a Ford Explorer with Florida plates in relation to Raleigh pizza delivery robberies.

Campus Police said that as the investigation continued, information surfaced implicating three students: Harris, D. L. Brunson, a sophomore in aerospace engineering, and Nicholas Blanks, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, in the involvement of the bookstore ATM robbery on January 26th.

Barnwell stated that the victim of the armed robbery was able to identify Harris, Brunson and Blanks, and according to the investigation report, Harris and Brunson are in custody.

According to Barnwell, they are under a $100,000 bond.

Barnwell also added that the apprehension of sophomore Leia Harris for possession of stolen goods led to more information about Jereald Harris, Brunson and Jessica Wilkins, a sophomore in biomolecular chemistry, whose charge is possession of marijuana.

The investigation report also indicates that William Parker Jr., a junior in chemical engineering, was charged with possession of stolen property.

Nonstudent Noah Kimbrell, unaffilliated with the other suspects according to Barnwell, was also charged with possession of stolen property, breaking and entering and violating probation.

“It is unfortunate that we saw through investigation that students were committing crimes against other students,” Barnwell said. “Campus crimes are typically committed by non-affiliated people. Only about 10 to 15 percent are committed by students.”

The process of unraveling the alleged ring of crime was made possible by the cooperation between the Campus Police and the Raleigh Police Department.

“This investigation shows great cooperation between us and the Raleigh PD,” Barnwell said.

He said the University can often be a focal point for crimes.

“Unfortunately, the university is a target-rich environment,” he said.

He added that it is no secret that colleges are full of laptops, PDAs and digital cameras — all high-value items that have a tendency to be stolen.

He also made the point that students on campus often tend to let their guard down because “we are so safe — our crime rate is low — people feel comfortable, so they leave their laptop at the library table when they go to the bathroom, and they walk around alone at night.”

Students said they are relieved that the suspects have been apprehended.

“I am very glad that the Campus Police are aware of the problems and have cracked down and arrested these students,” Lauren Hodges, a junior in textile management said. “I just believe that we should not have to worry about things such as our textbooks being stolen in the library, but I do feel safer knowing that campus police are handling it.”

John Franklin, a junior in business management, said he was also glad to hear police had taken action.

“It was very disconcerting to hear about all the robberies and crimes being committed on campus, so it’s wonderful to see Campus Police working to protect the students,” he said.

Nick Prieto, a junior in criminology, said he understood why Campus Police withheld information during its investigation of the suspects, although some students were distraught over its reluctance.

“I recognize that many residents were outraged that they were not informed or felt that they were at risk; however, if Campus Police would have released any information to residents prior to the arrests, their investigation would have been made considerably more difficult as word would have traveled fast, perhaps to those students involved,” he said.

As far as safety is concerned, some students said that they will start taking more precautions on campus, especially at night, although the elevated crime isn’t too discomforting.

“I take more precaution now and do not use the ATM’s by myself late at night and try to keep my books and other things close to me,” Hodges said. “I make sure I keep track of them, but I do not believe I am extremely worried about it.”

As an RA, Prieto said he was “concerned for the safety of our residents” after the robberies. After the arrests, however, he said he felt those fears have ebbed slightly.

“Once the suspects were apprehended, I felt a little more at ease,” Prieto said. “Regardless though, residents should always be aware of the risks for confrontation on campus after dark, as we are so close to the downtown district of Raleigh.”

The concern for the image of the university after having six students arrested is also prevalent.

“Obviously these arrests reflect poorly on our university. N.C. State is very well known, but incidents like this drag our University’s reputation down,” Franklin said.

Prieto offered his concern that potential students and other people in the region will have their perception of NCSU skewed due to these crimes.

“Because N.C. State received so much media attention surrounding these incidents, I feel like the university as a whole is being given a second look by many people in the region, including potential students, who are now wondering if our campus is as safe as they might have been led to believe,” Prieto said. “It’s a shame.”

Barnwell indicated that the apprehension of the suspects is a big step forward in reducing the University’s crime rate.

“I just think it is safe to say that we have taken care of some of the bad apples in the barrel,” he said. “Our investigations aren’t all like NYPD Blue’s — we worked with Raleigh PD on several armed robberies — closed one of ours — all based on a simple textbook theft.”