2 charged with assault and battery, strong-arm robbery
Rajshun D. Mayberry and Johnnie L. Howie could spend years in jail over $70.
The two were arrested Monday night in connection with last week's strong-arm robbery in the heart of campus, according to Capt. Eric Grabski, a spokesman for USC's Division of Law Enforcement and Safety.
Now, Mayberry, of Gaffney, S.C., and Howie, of Charlotte, N.C., who are both 18 years old, are charged with first-degree assault and battery and strong-arm robbery. What the suspects were doing in Columbia is not yet clear, Grabski said, and the university's directory doesn't list either as a current USC student.
Under state law, first-degree assault and battery carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and robbery a maximum of 15 years.
The two hadn't been released from the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center by Tuesday evening; earlier in the day, a judge set bond of $30,000 for Mayberry's release and $50,000 for Howie's.
Grabski said he wasn't sure what accounted for the difference, but he said both men were "equally responsible" for the crime, in which a USC student was punched in the face and robbed.
Mayberry and Howie allegedly demanded the student's money and fled on foot with about $70 from 816 Bull St., near the McKissick Museum on the Horseshoe, according to arrest warrants.
Following the robbery early last Thursday morning, officers from USC police and the Columbia Police Department, including a Columbia canine unit, searched campus but found no trace of them, according to an incident report.
However, a surveillance camera nearby caught images of the suspects that were later sent to Crimestoppers and published in local media outlets, which gave investigators tips that eventually led them to Mayberry and Howie, Grabski said.
The investigation is ongoing, though, Grabski said, as police consider other aspects of the crime, including what drove the suspects to campus and their motives.