‘He pulled a gun on me’

Zach HensonEditor-in-chief A man was arrested on Monday in relation to the robbery of a Troy student’s home during the summer, according to city of Troy Police Chief Randall Barr. As Seth Trimm, a sophomore marketing major from Centre, was getting ready for bed around 2 a.m. on July 13, he heard a knock on the door of his John M. Long Avenue house. When he looked out the window, he saw a man facing away from the door. “I thought he might be lost,” Trimm said. “Maybe something had happened to him, so I opened the door. “The first thing he does was he pulled a gun on me.” The man told Trimm to get on the ground and stay quiet. At the same time, another armed man broke through the back door. “They held guns to me and kept asking me where some dope was,” Trimm said. “I told them over and over again, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. There’s none of that here.’” Over the next half-hour, one man kept Trimm at gunpoint while the other ransacked the house. “They tore everything apart looking,” Trimm said. “They didn’t find anything, so they took my roommate’s little safe that he has, kept asking me for the code. “They told me they were gonna kill me if I didn’t tell them the code. I don’t think they would have thought twice about it.” When the men could not find any marijuana, they stole Trimm’s backpack, Xbox, headphones and wallet, but were “kind enough” to leave Trimm’s Social Security card, Bible and a Jim ’N Nick’s BBQ coupon. When the men left, they told Trimm to wait 10 minutes before leaving the house. When he did leave, he called the police and filed a report. “I’m just thankful to still be here,” Trimm said. “God was definitely watching over me.” Although city police arrested one suspect — Jamarius Jones, 20, of Troy — there is another suspect who has not been found. “The thought of them out there still gets me,” said Trimm. “They know who I am; they have my ID.” Now, Trimm wants to help make sure others do not face similar events. “I do feel like students need to be aware to watch themselves,” he said. “I never thought that would happen to me in a million years, especially as close to campus as I was.” Troy University Police Chief John McCall said there are some easy ways to bolster safety. “Look and see who is at the door first, and don’t open the door to a complete stranger,” McCall said. He also reminded everyone to call the police if they do not feel comfortable and to lock the doors behind them when they enter their homes. “Don’t go in the apartment and leave the door unlocked,” McCall said. “People will walk right on into your house or apartment if they think you’ve got something worth taking or stealing.” The same goes for cars. “Don’t leave anything in plain view,” McCall said. “If you leave a MacBook or something of value in plain view, it only takes a matter of seconds before someone can bust out a window and grab it and be gone.” Everyone should carry a cellphone with them when they walk through the campus as well.“Don’t walk in dark areas,” McCall said. “Stay in the well-lit areas, and walk with a buddy. “Crimes very rarely happen to an individual when they’re more than one.” Barr affirmed McCall’s advice. “Contact the police immediately if you see anything suspicious at your home or vehicle or that of your neighbors,” Barr said. “See something, say something.” The city of Troy Police Department is continuing to investigate this case.