As Longwood Police Officer David Moss was headed to Greenwood Library around 11:45 p.m. last night, he decided to take a shortcut through the campus parking garage.
After hearing some commotion coming from the back corner of the garage, Moss saw that three males were robbing a truck. He instantly knew the truck wasn’t theirs, because it was his.
“It was a little surprising seeing my own truck getting robbed,” he said. “It definitely set me back a second.”
Moss said he watched as the suspects walked around his truck and one got in the drivers seat.
“All I could do at the time was get on the radio and call my partners to come out and assist,” said Moss. “I didn’t want to confront three individuals alone.”
Moss detailed that once other officers arrived on scene, they moved in, blocked off the entrances to the garage, and made arrests.
According to Longwood Chief of Police Robert Beach, the suspects were identified as two Farmville men, Tyquan Emone Hickson, and Damian Deonte Mickey, and a third male who is a minor. None of which had any official ties to Longwood University.
Beach specified that the Police Department found no broken windows, or open doors. “You wonder how many of the vehicles just weren’t locked,” he said.
“Somewhere close to $1,200 was stolen,” said Beach. “They had obviously been prowling cars all over. They had all kinds of stuff; jewelry, clothing, computers, money, just a bunch of stuff.”
Both Hickson and Mickey were charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, petit larceny, and entering a vehicle without consent of the owner with the intent to commit a crime.
“This is a public university,” said Beach. “With that freedom comes a tremendous amount of personal liability.”
He added, “Making sure you secure your stuff is a big deal. I am sure in many cases people left their belongings on the backseat or left their windows unlocked, or something like that.”
Moss had three of his doors secured, but his fourth door was left unlocked.
According to Beach, all the property has been recovered. “If anyone anywhere in the community is missing items, they need to call the police department with a description of the item(s) they are missing.”
“Check your vehicle when you get out, make sure it is locked and secure,” said Moss in a word of advice to students and faculty. “You never know what could happen.”
Hickson and Mickey’s hearing is set for Dec. 9.