Quick response by Midtown Hills Precinct and Vanderbilt University officers led to Monday night’s arrest of a man who slung a 21-year-old Vanderbilt student to the ground by the hair and robbed her of a cell phone in the 300 block of 25th Avenue South.
Darius Wade, 28, of Antioch, is now jailed on charges of robbery, assault and vandalism.
The victim was walking on the sidewalk on 25th Avenue South at 7 p.m. when she was pulled down. She began yelling, “Stop Him!” A 20-year-old male student ran to assist and tackled Wade in the middle of 25th Avenue South in front of Memorial Gymnasium. Wade then began throwing punches and spitting on the 20-year-old. Wade freed himself and continued on as MNPD and Vanderbilt officers began saturating the area. He was apprehended in the 1400 block of 25th Avenue South.
Prior to the robbery, Wade was reported to have been acting erratically in the parking lot of a nearby Barnes & Noble store. Witnesses said he picked up a rock and threw it at a vehicle, breaking its taillight.
A judicial commissioner set bond for Wade at $60,000.