Three Loyola students were robbed at gunpoint in Audubon Park on Monday, Sept. 24.

According to the police report, at 11:20 p.m., the students, two female and one male, were sitting on a swing set near St. Charles avenue in Audubon Park when three men approached them. The men were wearing ski masks, all black clothing and were armed with pistols.

The two female students who were robbed spoke with the Maroon but asked not to have their names published because of the nature of the crime.

The two said the male student went by the rest station in the park to get a drink from the water fountain. “We heard somebody shuffle up to him,” said one of the students.

Two of the robbers held the male student down. The other robber told the two female students to search their pockets then get on their knees. He took their purses and the contents of their pockets, which included all three of the victims’ iPhones. He then told them to face Loyola while all three of the robbers walked away.

Because one of the iPhones that was stolen had GPS tracking, Detective Michael DiMarco was able to track the location of the phones in the hopes of finding the people who stole them, according to the police report.

DiMarco said he attributes the relatively quick arrest of the robbers to the GPS on one of the stolen iPhones. He recommends

that everyone who has an iPhone should regularly upgrade to iCloud in order to track your phone if it’s lost or stolen.

Second district NOPD officers arrested Jordan Collins, Victor Carr and Christopher Nash on Wednesday, Sept. 26. Each man was charged with three counts of armed robbery with a firearm.

The three robbers were arrested at Carr’s apartment. Detective William Mullaly tracked the stolen iPhone to Marquis Apartments on Poydras St. On Tuesday, Sept. 25, Mullaly met with the apartment manager to view security camera footage from the previous night. On the footage at 11:36 p.m., Mullaly noticed a car park in the apartment parking lot. Three men wearing all black exited the car and proceeded to an apartment on the property.

On Wednesday, Mullaly and DiMarco saw the same car enter the apartment parking lot. After Nash, Collins and Carr got out of the car, Mullaly and DiMarco announced themselves as police officers. The officers separated the three men and read them their Miranda rights. Collins confessed that he, Carr and Nash robbed the three students at Audubon Park on Monday night. He also told the officers that the phones and purses of the victims were in Carr’s apartment upstairs.

Both girls said they recommend not going into the park after it closes to other students. “Travel with a big group of boys. A group of girls isn’t going to do anything. We see other people go to the park at night, we just don’t do it anymore,” said one of the girls.

Aaren Gordon can be reached at [email protected]