By Patrick Donachie
Three men have been arraigned in a robbery attempt that ended with a gun being fire inside a dormitory room at St. John’s University, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
They were arrested by police shortly after last week’s incident, only one block from the university grounds.
The public safety unit at St. John’s said there was no ongoing threat to the school and pledged to continue working with the police to ensure school safety.
On May 11 at about 1:25 p.m., Anthony Gusthas, 18; Mustafa Godbolt, 21; and Tyrell Sutton, 17, entered Room 510 in Hollis Hall, according to police. Hollis Hall is a residential dormitory for students. Five men were in the room at the time.
One of the men recognized Gusthas as a former student at the college, according to police. Godbolt allegedly pulled a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver and asked where the money was, according to the DA. One of the men in the room said he had no money, and Godbolt allegedly fired one round, which hit the wall, the DA’s office said. No one in the room was injured, the university’s public safety unit said.
Godbolt searched through a bedroom and the three suspects then fled the campus, according to the DA. They were apprehended by officers in the NYPD School Safety Unit at about 1:49 p.m., near the corner of 167th Street and Grand Central Parkway, according to police.
According to the DA’s office, the three defendants were charged with burglary, attempted robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance. The DA said that the police had allegedly recovered 150 Xanax pills during the arrest, in addition to the gun.
A spokesman for the university confirmed that the NYPD had concluded its investigation into the incident, and reiterated that St. John’s is committed to determining “best practices and safety measures moving forward.”
The public safety unit initially responded to the incident by issuing a safety alert on the St. John’s website after the incident, and also sent out a text message to the school community concerning the alert.
Gusthas and Sutton both had bail set at $300,000. Godbolt had bail set at $400,000, The next court date for all three defendants is May 26.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
