7 students arrested in Sugar Land robbery

Police have arrested seven Houston teens in connection with the aggravated robbery of a Sugar Land doctor earlier this month — all of them students at Elsik High School and most of them claiming to be involved with the Rolling 60s gang, a subset of the Crips.

The victim, who lived alone, was attacked April 19 when one of the suspects reportedly knocked on his door asking to be allowed to call his mother because he was having car trouble. "The gentleman, being nice, opened the front door," Sugar Land Police Sgt. James Davis said — and that's when the entire group allegedly rushed in, beat him and stole his wallet and vehicle. The group then apparently decided to run out and use the victim's credit cards at the First Colony Mall: "They actually went on a shopping spree, and as they were going through stores throughout the mall, we were following behind them, picking up small leads here and there. And we were able to find their identity through that way," Davis told KHOU.

Police say the suspects — Justin Cleveland, Jacolby Johnson, Travius Joseph, Jacob Rockward, Scottie Taylor, Patrick Thomas and Reginald Ward, all 17 and 18 years old — seem to have picked their victim at random, though some of their friends and family claim that one of the doctor's relatives might have paid the boys to rough the man up (police haven't been able to verify that). Six of the suspects say they identify with the Rolling 60s, but one of their fathers says his son isn't. And the suspects' classmates at Elsik say the guys aren't the type to commit a crime like this: "I don't believe none of it at all," student Karen Morgan told KTRK. "They're not troublemakers at all. They're just really silly."

All seven suspects are being held on $100,000 bond; they'll likely be sent to alternative school awaiting the outcome of the criminal investigation.