The Benicia Herald

“One suspect pulled a black, semiautomatic gun and stuck it into the stomach of one of the victims.” — Benicia police Sgt. Scott Przekurat

By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Two 14-year-old Benicia High School students were robbed at gunpoint by four teenagers Friday night after the school’s homecoming game, Benicia police said Monday.

A school administrator appeared shortly after the four robbed the two boys of their wallets, cell phones and a small amount of money, prompting the robbers to scatter, said Sgt. Scott C. Przekurat of the department’s investigations unit.

The victims were walking through the campus after the game and had entered an outside hallway along the school’s A Wing at about 11 p.m. when they were approached by the four robbers, all described as wearing dark sweaters or jackets, dark pants, and flat-billed ball caps, Przekurat said.

As they confronted the 14-year-olds, the robbers paired off, each pair focusing on one of the victims, Przekurat said.

“One suspect pulled a black, semiautomatic gun and stuck it into the stomach of one of the victims,” Przekurat said.

He said they took the victims’ valuables and fled the scene in at least two directions when the unidentified school administrator, unaware of the robbery, approached. The two victims told the official they had just been robbed. Neither was hurt.

The four suspects were described as being African American, of slender build and ranging in height from 5 feet, 7 inches to 6 foot 2. Three of the four were wearing red and black flat-billed ball caps except one, whose hat was red with a white checkered pattern; one of the four wore his hair in twists or small braids, Przekurat said.

Six police officers were on the campus during the game, a spokesperson for the Benicia Unified School District said. Przekurat confirmed that police and other emergency responders were present on the city block-sized campus.

While most of those attending the game were leaving from parking lots closer to the playing field, officials speculated that the victims may have been walking toward the front of the school to meet a ride.

No such incident has happened at the school in at least 12 years, although school officials are discussing the incident, authorities said.

Przekurat said the department is continuing to investigate the robbery, and police are examining surveillance tapes to determine the robbers’ identities. On Monday he said police were not sure whether the four were Benicia High students, students from a different school, or if they were enrolled in any area school.