The Black Urban Times
Acting on a tip, Raleigh police arrested former N.C. State University basketball player Gavin Troy Grant Sunday afternoon at an apartment on the 5400 block of Summit Manor Lane.
Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue told The Black Urban Times Monday that patrol officers assigned to the Northwest District of the Raleigh Police Department’s were preparing to make a forced entry when Grant, who has been living in the apartment since before he was wanted by law enforcement in November, surrendered.
Grant, of the Parkchester section of the Bronx, New York, has been charged with one felony count each of first degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Investigators say Grant and an accomplice forced their way into 1723 Crossroads Arbor Way in west Raleigh on Sept. 24 around 10 p.m., and assaulted the occupants before attempting to rob them.
Eliza Jacobellis, the female occupant dialed 911 saying two men were "trying to take her boyfriend's money."
Media reports stated one of the men was armed with a handgun, but Sughrue declined to say whether investigators think Grant was armed. The victims were able to fend off the suspects who fled without robbing the home.
While Jacobellis was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, her boyfriend, Domonique Andrews Rodgers, could be overheard saying he knew the suspects.
While Grant was named as one of the would-be robbers, Sughrue said police have not identified his alleged accomplice, who was wearing a mask and described by the victims as being 6-foot-2, and approximately 175 pounds.
The day after the robbery attempt, police charged victim Rodgers, 23, with manufacturing marijuana, maintaining a dwelling and selling a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia, the News and Observer reported.
Grant, who played for NCSU Wolfpack from 2004 through 2008, caught the eye of college scouts while playing basketball at St. Raymond's High School in the Bronx.
Sunday's arrest isn't the first time the hoop-star has run afoul of the law. Beginning in 2005 the troubled player's life began a downward spiral that seemed to worsen with each passing year despite his stellar performance on the court.
Averaging 4.2 turnovers per game during 2007 helped Grant earn top ranking in the country amongst NBA draft prospects. Later he went on to star with the Utah Flash in the NBA Developmental League for almost two years, and was described by the team's owner as a promising player with a certain future in the NBA or European professional basketball player.
In 2005, Grant, who has resided in the United States since 1994, faced a deportation hearing in Atlanta after he was accused of having entered the United States illegally as a child.
Tom O'Connell, the Cary, NC ICE resident agent in charge, told The News and Observer of Raleigh that Grant apparently entered the United States from Jamaica after his mother.
The judge in that case closed Grant's removal proceeding hearing in 2007, allowing him to apply for permanent resident status.
While playing with NBA Development League squad, Utah Flash in Salt Lake City in late 2008, Raleigh police issued a warrant for Grant's arrest stemming from a credit card transaction at Saks Fifth Avenue in Raleigh that led to the arrest of a store employee as well, but what became of that case is a mystery. There is no record of it in any state or county databases, and charges against a woman, likely the store employee, were dropped. Sughrue said the charges may have been dismissed.
The 6'7, Jamaican native is being held at the Wake County Jail in lieu of a $505,000 bond. A Wake County Criminal District Court clerk verified that Grant is scheduled for his first court appearance at 2 p.m. Monday.
Grant's immigration attorney, Anna Baird Choi, declined to comment on Grant's arrest, but did say Grant's application for permanent residency was still pending. Choi told The Black Urban Times that Grant married his high school sweetheart in October 2005, and the couple has a six-year-old daughter, Harmoney.
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