IC teen arrested after allegedly robbing drug dealer

IC teen arrested after allegedly robbing drug dealer
Lang
6/29/19

An Iowa City teen faces a robbery charge after he and another suspect allegedly used a gun to rob a drug dealer.

18-year-old Travis Leroy Holman of Muscatine Avenue was booked into the Johnson County Jail just before 2:15 Friday afternoon. Police say Holman and an unnamed co defendant flagged down the alleged victim in the parking lot of Tate High School on Mall Drive to set up a drug transaction on April 4th. That interaction was caught on surveillance video.

Holman and the other suspect 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 the co-defendant 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, the other suspect allegedly pulled out a gun and put the barrel to the back of the seller’s head. The co-defendant 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 the co-defendant 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.

Holman, who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged incident, is charged with 1st Degree Robbery, a Class B Felony punishable by a maximum of 25 years in prison.