Five students at a prominent Bethesda high school — including a star football player — have been charged with robbing a smoothie stand in what some sources say was an inside job.
Pat Lazear, Justin Schweiger, Alex Krouskas, Thomas W. Ashley III and Robert Scott Warren — all 17 — have been charged in connection with the March 30 stickup of the Smoothie King on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda.
A source familiar with the investigation said that one of the students was allegedly working the counter and helped orchestrate the evening robbery. Another student walked in, hidden beneath a black hooded sweatshirt with his face covered. The student whipped out a handgun from his front pocket and took a little more than $400.
The other three waited in a nearby car, the source said.
A video camera caught the robbery on tape.
Ashley’s father refused to comment, referring questions to his son’s lawyer. The lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
None of the other defendants could be reached for comment.
Montgomery County police officials would only confirm the arrests. They would not say whether the teens were being questioned in other robberies.
Warren was arrested late last month. The other four were led away from school in handcuffs last Friday.
School Principal Alan Goodwin refused to confirm the identity of the students but confirmed that five arrests were made. He said the school was shocked by the arrests.
“They haven’t caused us trouble,” Goodwin said. “I’m hoping that it works out well for them.”
Whitman is one of the most highly regarded public schools in Maryland. Its students are drawn from a wealthy community and they consistently score well on standardized tests. Their newspaper and performing arts programs are rated highly by school observers.
Lazear is one of the top middle linebackers in the country and has been offered scholarships by several big-name colleges.
“Off the field, you have to love his character,” Rivals.com raved, calling Lazear “a five-star in every way” earlier this month.
Whitman football coach Eric Wallich hung up the phone when asked to comment on the arrests.
This is not the first time that Whitman students have been charged with violent crimes. In 2002, three students — including a 14-year-old — were charged with robbery and sexual assault after they allegedly lured a 25-year-old woman to one of the students’ homes. They had told the woman they were producers of pornographic videos. Once she arrived, the teens allegedly raped her with a baseball bat.
Lazear, Schweiger, Krouskas and Ashley are due in Montgomery County court Friday. Warren is scheduled to appear in court in June.
Lazear’s football stats
» 6’1″ 235 pounds, runs a 4.6 second 40-yard dash.
» He has been offered scholarships to the universities of Maryland, Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh and Georgia. He has also been wooed by West Virginia, Ohio State and Florida.
