5 Rutgers football players were arrested Thursday in conjunction on home invasion and assault charges. The football players arrested were Andre Boggs, 20, of Coatesville, Pa.; Ruhann Peele, 22, and Nadir Barnwell, 20, both of Piscataway; Razohnn Gross, 20, of Franklin Park and Delon Stephenson, 22, of Sayreville.
The Middlesex Prosecutor’s office issued the following statement:
Nine of the 10 defendants were arrested today. One remains at large. The arrests stem from an active and continuing investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Brunswick Police Department.
The investigation began last spring when police were called to a home invasion on Prosper Street in New Brunswick on April 26, 2015 at 11:29 p.m., after three masked men forced their way into the home and stole an undisclosed amount of cash and marijuana from five students at gunpoint.
During an intensive investigation, police arrested Tejay Johnson, 23, of Egg Harbor. The former student was charged with robbery, criminal restraint, theft, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
As the investigation continued, police linked Johnson to a home invasion on Hartwell Street in New Brunswick on April 27, 2015.
Police determined that Johnson and Andre Boggs, 20, of Coatesville, Pa., forced their way into the home and, armed with a bat and a knife, robbed a student of approximately $900 and an undisclosed amount of marijuana.
They were arrested today on charges of robbery, burglary while armed, and conspiracy to commit an armed robbery.
Another student, Dylan Mastriana, 19, of Rio Grande, also was charged with those counts after the investigation determined that he helped plan the robbery.
In a third home invasion, Johnson and Boggs were charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and attempted burglary while armed for trying to force their way into another student’s room in a dormitory complex at Livingston College in Piscataway on May 5, 2015.
The same charges also were filed against Mastriana, Jianan Chen, 19, of New Brunswick, and Kaylanna Ricks, 20, of Perth Amboy. The investigation showed that Mastriana and Chen planned the robbery, while Ricks drove Johnson and Boggs in a getaway vehicle.
Johnson and Boggs entered the dorm, but fled when the students targeted in the robbery resisted by closing and locking the door to their room as Johnson and Boggs attempted to force their way in. Nothing was stolen in that incident.
Police further determined that Johnson was one of six individuals who surrounded a group of at least four other individuals, including a Rutgers student, and assaulted them during an incident on Delafield Street on April 25, 2015.
The six were charged today with aggravated assault, riot, and conspiracy to commit a riot. A 19-year-old male student suffered a broken jaw during the unprovoked attack.
In addition to Johnson, defendants charged in the attack were identified as: Ruhann Peele, 22, and Nadir Barnwell, 20, both of Piscataway; Rahzonn Gross, 20, of Franklin Park, and Delon Stephenson, 22, and his brother, Daryl Stephenson, 23, both of Sayreville. Daryl Stephenson, also a former student at Rutgers, remains at large.
Minutes ago Rutgers Athletic Director Rutgers Julie Hermann minutes issued the following statement:
“The students involved are currently suspended from our program,” Hermann said. “We continue to monitor the situation. We will have no further comment as this is a pending legal matter.”
