GREENVILLE (March 31, 2015)­ – East Carolina University Police have arrested three students for a robbery that took place inside Clement Residence Hall on January 20.

On Monday , ECU Police arrested Matthew Parisi, 19, Austin Varipapa, 19 and Hunter Tolliver, 18, all currently enrolled ECU students. All have on-campus addresses but do not live in Clement Residence Hall. They charged with common law robbery, felonious breaking and entering, safecracking, conspiracy to commit felony larceny and felony possession of stolen goods.

Parisi ,Varipapa and Tolliver were taken to the Pitt County Detention Center and  placed under a $25,000 bond, according to Deputy Chief of Police Jason Sugg.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. Jan. 20 , ECU Police responded to a report of a robbery with one person being physically assaulted during the incident in Clement Residence Hall. A crime notification was sent to the campus community using the ECU Alert system.

According to Sugg, officers searched the building floor-by-floor and were not able to locate anyone matching the initial descriptions of the suspects that were provided. A small personal safe, related to the case, was recovered at the time. The suspects were last seen by one of the victims running up the stairwell at the southwest corner of the building.

Officers determined at the beginning of the investigation that the robbery was a targeted incident and sent a second ECU Alert message at approximately 7:40 p.m. with an update and an “all clear,” Sugg said. As a result of continued interviews and the gathering of evidence by the ECU Police Department-Investigations Unit, the suspects were identified.

ECU Police continue to investigate this incident, Sugg said.

At ECU, the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (OSRR) administers the Student Code of Conduct, which governs students’ on- and off-campus conduct. OSRR receives reports from law enforcement officials as well as ECU and Greenville community members.

Once a report is received, OSRR meets with the student to address the alleged misconduct. For students found responsible for a violation, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. The ECU conduct process functions separately and independently from the criminal justice process.

Jeannine Manning Hutson

Director for News Services

East Carolina University