University of Central Florida student Anthony Velasco Gomez was arrested on Wednesday by the UCF Police Department for committing two strong arm robberies by sudden snatching, according to the arrest affidavit.
Velasco Gomez snatched food and a cell phone, then resisted arrest from a UCFPD officer, the affidavit states.
Officers were dispatched to the Student Union at around 2:55 p.m. in response to a robbery and were informed that a victim was following the defendant towards Chick-fil-A.
One of the victims said ”he was sitting at a table eating his food (approx. $10) which was directly in front of him when the defendant sat down at the table also and a few moments later grabbed his food from him by sudden snatching and without permission,” the report states.
The second victim was sitting outside of the Pegasus Ballroom when the suspect walked by and took his phone out of his hand.
The victim said the suspect walked outside of the Student Union and through the breezeway by [Chick-fil-A] when [the victim’s] phone rang. The defendant took the phone out of his pocket and then the victim took the phone back. The defendant then turned and faced him and shoved him and walked away,” according to the report.
When the officer arrived, the suspect was coming from the Chick-fil-A/bookstore area with two males walking behind him. The males pointed out the suspect to the officer.
Once the officer caught up to him, Velasco Gomez initially complied but began to resist when asked to put his hands behind his back.
“The suspect still was resisting by tensing up and being non compliant and he was able to pull his hands and arms around in front of him in which I tightened my grasp on the suspect and went to the ground with him,” the affidavit described the encounter between the officer and Velasco Gomez.
A witness on scene said they saw and heard Velasco Gomez screaming “god made me do it” after the police had him in custody.
Velasco Gomez was charged with two counts of robbery (sudden snatching), petit theft of $100 or more, battery and resisting officer without violence.
There were also two other robberies associated with Velasco Gomez reported after the arrest affidavit was completed, UCFPD spokesperson Courtney Gilmartin informed. Velasco Gomez was also carrying a stolen pink purse, Gilmartin said.
KnightNews.com is working on obtaining more information on the remaining robberies.
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