Lang
7/2/19
A 15-year-old faces a robbery charge after he and another teen allegedly robbed a drug dealer at gunpoint.
Xzavier Malik Herman of Esther Court is currently being held at the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center. Iowa City Police say that Herman and 18-year-old Travis Leroy Holman of Muscatine Avenue flagged down the alleged victim in the parking lot of Tate High School on Mall Drive, where Herman is a student, to set up a drug transaction on April 4th. That interaction was caught on surveillance video.
Herman and Holman then contacted the other subject via Snapchat to arrange a meeting on the 3000 block of Wayne Avenue. The alleged victim arrived in his vehicle just after 4:45pm, with Holman getting into the front passenger seat while Herman got into the back seat.
The seller then took out a bag of marijuana, which Holman allegedly tried to snatch away. As the two were struggling over possession of the bag, Herman allegedly pulled out a gun and put the barrel to the back of the seller’s head. Herman then allegedly struck the seller in the head multiple times with the gun while Holman struck the victim in the face. The two then fled eastbound on foot.
Surveillance footage from a house in the area shows Herman running with a gun in his hand. He was also wearing the same clothing as in the previous video from Tate High School, and was last seen running south toward his residence three houses away.
Police say the victim and Holman are acquaintances.
Herman and Holman, who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged incident, are each charged with 1st Degree Robbery, a Class B Felony punishable by a maximum of 25 years in prison.