KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Two Western Michigan University football players are in custody after police say they robbed a young woman with a gun and knife Friday night.
It happened at the California West Apartments on California Avenue. The suspects are 18-year-old Ron George and 20-year-old Bryson White. Police say they broke into a 20-year-old woman's apartment with a gun and a knife.
The victim had just moved into the apartment a few days ago, got a job and was thinking about attending WMU next year, she told FOX 17. The woman said White had messaged her on Twitter a few days ago asking her to hang out, but she never thought it would lead to what happened Friday.
Around 8:30 Friday night, the victim, who wished to remain anonymous, said she heard a knock on her door.
"I looked out the peephole, but the peephole was black," the woman told FOX 17. "I figured this is a not too nice apartment and maybe it just doesn't work, so I unlocked the door and cracked it maybe an inch. I saw sunglasses, bandannas and a gun and I knew exactly what was about to happen."
The woman said the two men pushed their way into her apartment with a gun and knife in hand. At the same time, the victim's male friend hid in her bedroom closet.
"They came in and they threw me over the couch," she said. "A that point they took my phone, they had made several death threats at that point, they had a knife and the gun was pointed at me the entire time."
She said the two men asked her for money and drugs, eventually taking around $400 in cash and a speaker. When they asked for more, the situation escalated.
"They were like, 'you better quit lying to me before I slit your throat,'" she said. "Then they told me to go into the bathroom and this is where it got really weird. He [George] told me to turn around and he pointed the gun at the back of my head and nudged me real hard with it.
The woman said she was then told to take off her shirt.
"I told him I wouldn't take off my clothes, but he then told me again to take off my clothes or he'd blow my brains out," she told FOX 17. "I repeatedly said I refused to take off my clothes. I will not take off my clothes."
She said White attempted to assault her while George told him to back off. White allegedly pushed her against the bathroom wall, leaving a dent in the towel rack on the wall.
"That was the most terrifying thing I've ever had to do," she said.
The victim eventually locked herself in the bathroom while the suspects were in her apartment for nearly five minutes shuffling through her belongings, she said.
"I had a gun to my head, I was told over eight times they were going to kill me, I potentially almost got raped," she said. "That could've happened to anyone's child that goes to this school."
Neighbors on the street were shocked when they heard what happened.
"I don't want people with the big 'W' on their shirt that I know going out and trying to kill people or steal things from other people," said Keith Boeker, a student at WMU.
The victim says she no longer wishes to attend Western Michigan University next fall and plans on moving out of her apartment soon.
Both of the players are expected to be arraigned on Monday on charges of first degree home invasion with additional charges likely sought. Both players were immediately suspended indefinitely on Friday, according to the university.
