Duke students held hostage had nearly $12,000 in valuables stolen during armed home invasion

DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – Five Duke students who were held hostage in their apartment over the weekend had nearly $12,000 in valuables stolen, including phones and laptops, an incident report revealed.

CBS 17’s Crystal Price spoke with a victim of the robbery on Monday who said she and her two friends had just gotten back to their Belmont Apartment on McQueen Drive in Durham on Saturday night when two men came up to them outside, one having a gun. She said they forced them inside the apartment and the two others inside became victims, as well.

She said they were held for 90 minutes. During that time, the suspects were stealing their bank account information, phones, wallets, laptops, and she said they even got away with her car after stealing her BMW keys, the incident report revealed.

The incident report also showed that two laptops were stolen, totaling $3,500. Additionally, four iPhones made up the biggest chunk of the $11,840 in property stolen, making up $4,300 in missing property.

Cash, credit and debit cards, watches and jewelry were among the other items stolen, the incident report confirmed.

The case remains open, Durham police said, and officers confirm they are looking for as many as four suspects.

According to Durham’s Community crime map, there were at least six reports of robberies, larcenies, or motor vehicle thefts at the Belmont Apartment complex from February 2021 to February 2022. And, CBS 17 also found that within a half-mile of this complex, there had been 29 robberies since February 2021.