Two arrests were made in connection with an assault following a drug deal that took place on Wednesday in Dwight Hall at the University of Massachusetts.
Clayton Bowser, 18, of Amherst, was charged with robbery, armed larceny under $1,200, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon on school grounds and assault and battery. Alexander Walsh, 19, of Shutesbury, was charged with robbery, armed larceny under $1,200, assault with a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct, according to Mary Dettloff, deputy director of News and Media Relations at UMass.
Both suspects were arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Thursday, as stated in an update to the original crime alert.
According to Dettloff, Judge William O’Grady ordered Bowser and Walsh to be held on a $2,500 cash bail. The judge determined that they are to stay in Massachusetts and abide by all laws, not use firearms or other serious weapons, stay away from the victims and UMass, remain free of drugs and alcohol, submit to random drug testing and report to probation on a weekly basis. If they are bailed from jail, they must report to probation to be fitted with a GPS tracker and will be bound to a curfew between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
A bind over hearing is scheduled for April 27, according to Dettloff.
A campus-wide crime alert was sent out Wednesday evening to inform the campus community of the incident that occurred earlier that day, according to the crime alert.
UMass Police responded to the building in Northeast Residential Area at 2:40 p.m. after being alerted of a “possible physical altercation on the third floor.”
UMPD responded to Dwight Hall a second time, and determined two UMass students had been assaulted after an attempted drug deal involving marijuana. The incident was also taken outside, where the suspects produced a weapon, according to the alert.
According to the crime alert, three suspects were involved, and UMPD is still searching for the third suspect.
Hayley Johnson can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @hayleyk_johnson.
Dr. Ed • Mar 29, 2019 at 2:38 pm
With all the money they spent on those cameras, you’d think they’d have better pictures than they do.
But the problem they have is that their facial identification database is the student ID photos, so they can’t even search for non-students. Which sorta tells you where the UMPD’s interests lie — in controlling the students, not in protecting & serving them.
amy • Mar 28, 2019 at 8:22 pm
Another day at zoomass! A day later they were finally caught. A little slow considering the victims proably knew their names and hundreds of cameras on campus.
Maybe umpd was too busy harassing an innocent black employee who was on his way to work??