By Patrick Donachie
Three men face up to 25 years in prison after being arrested for firing a weapon during a robbery attempt that took place in a residence hall at St. John’s University in Jamaica Estates, the Queens district attorney said.
“The defendants are accused of shattering the tranquility of the St. John’s campus by bursting into an occupied dorm room in the middle of the afternoon armed with a knife and a revolver and firing a gunshot as part of an attempted robbery,” Queens DA Richard Brown said.
Anthony Gusthas, 18, Mustafa Godbolt, 21, and Tyrell Sutton, 17, approached Room 510 in Hollis Hall on the campus at about 1:25 p.m. Wednesday, the DA said. There were three people inside at the time.
Brown said three defendants knocked on the door of the room. One of the people inside peered through the keyhole and recognized Gusthas as a former student. He began to open the door, but the three defendants forced their way in, according to the DA.
Godbolt allegedly asked one of the men where the money was and Sutton brandished a knife as one of the people in the room said he did not have any money, according to the DA. Prosecutors said Godbolt then allegedly pulled out a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver.
One of the people inside the room saw a muzzle flash from the revolver, according to the DA. No one in the room was injured from the gunshot, St. John’s public safety unit said. Godbolt allegedly searched through the belongings in the bedroom of one of the people inside before all three defendants fled, the DA said.
At about 1:49 p.m., the trio was apprehended and arrested by officers in the NYPD School Safety Unit at the intersection of 167th Street and Grand Central Parkway, which is only a block away from the university grounds, the NYPD said.
A police officer saw Sutton drop a backpack and Godbolt drop a jar on the ground. The police recovered the weapon from the backpack and recovered 150 pills of Xanax from the dorm room, the DA said.
The three were charged with robbery, burglary, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance, the NYPD said.
If found guilty, the three each face up to 25 years in prison.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
