BPD arrests 3 in armed robbery case, possible homicide connection

Bloomington police arrested three people Nov. 14 who face felony charges of armed robbery and burglary. Authorities say the suspects may be connected to the Nov. 3 robbery-homicide on East Dekist Street.

Cody J. Wasley, 21, Derric C. Bower, 17, and Calvin R. Bland Jr., 18, were arrested for an Oct. 23 armed robbery at a local residence, Bloomington Police Department Lt. Bill Parker said.

The three suspects were booked into the Monroe County Jail at about 8:40 p.m. Nov. 14, and are being held with $100,000 surety and $1,000 cash bonds.

An arrest warrant on the same charges has been issued for a fourth suspect, Bloomington resident Alexander C. English, 21, Parker said.

On that night, three other men, inside a house on the 200 block of East 16th Street, ordered pizza. When a knock sounded at the front door, one victim answered.

When he opened the door, four or five men, all wearing dark clothes and bandannas on their faces, reportedly forced their way inside the residence. Once inside, the group demanded money, marijuana and phones, Parker said.

The arrests came as a result of two individual traffic stops, Parker said.

The three had all been spending time at a trailer house at the 1600 block of North Willis Drive the night of the arrest, believed to be where English resides.

“They went without incident,” Parker said.

The three victims reported the incident to police about a half-hour after the incident occurred. When asked about the delay in reporting the incident, they told police they sat around eating the pizza and talked about what should be done, Parker said.

Bland and Wasley admitted to the Oct. 23 armed robbery, Bower declined to answer questions by police.

All three victims told police they had been in possession of marijuana, and that the robbers also made off with a larger amount than originally reported. Parker said it is still not known exactly how much marijuana was stolen during the Oct. 23 robbery.

This is at least the second known robbery police have discovered in the wake of investigating the Nov. 3 robbery-homicide where Cloverdale, Ind. resident Joshua Huber, 25, was shot and killed. On Nov. 3, it was also reported four to five black men, their faces covered in bandannas, entered the East Dekist Street residence demanding cash and marijuana.

— Michael Majchrowicz