Belcher arrested for armed robbery

Bloomington police arrested former IU football standout Damarlo Belcher, 24, Friday morning for armed robbery.

While investigating a robbery-homicide in which Cloverdale, Ind., resident Joshua Huber, 25, was shot and killed Nov. 3, police were informed of another robbery that occurred on Oct. 30, Bloomington Police Department Lt. Bill Parker said. Belcher has since admitted to the Oct. 30 robbery.

Bloomington police responded to a call of a gun shot fired and robbery at a residence on the 2600 block of East Dekist Street Huber and his brother were reportedly visiting with friends and a family member when five black men, their faces covered with bandannas, came in, beat and pistol whipped those in the house and demanded drugs and cash, Parker said.

Although no definitive connection with the robbery-homicide has yet been found, Bloomington police continue to investigate the case. Belcher is now considered a suspect, Parker said.

On Oct. 30, police said Belcher met another man in a car outside the man’s Bloomington apartment on the 1000 block of North Walnut Street to exchange money for a quarter-pound of marijuana worth about $1,000. When the two began exchanging, Belcher reportedly reached behind his seat and pulled a gun on the man, demanding the drugs and fleeing with both the marijuana and $1,000, Parker said.

A warrant for Belcher’s arrest was issued Wednesday. Police located the former IU football star at his grandfather’s house in Fort Wayne at about 10:15 a.m. Friday and took him in for questioning. Fort Wayne police assisted BPD in the arrest, Parker said.

Upon questioning, police recovered 12 grams of the quarter of a pound of marijuana, a scale and $795. The gun used in the Oct. 30 robbery has yet to be recovered, Parker said.

Belcher played wide receiver for IU from 2008-11, leading the team in receptions and receiving yards in 2010 as a junior. He was dismissed from the team Nov. 1, 2011, following an undisclosed violation of team rules.

After Belcher was forced off the team, he admitted to a failed drug test. The former wide receiver was charged with possession in January 2010, 22 months before his ousting from the program, and again in September of this year on the same charge, according to court records.

— Michael Majchrowicz