UPDATE: Rutgers Suspends Arrested Football Players

Four Rutgers University students and two former students were charged Thursday in connection with an unprovoked assault on a group of people in New Brunswick, including a student whose jaw was broken, authorities said.

Four of those defendants are football players at the school, according to NJ.com. The two former students are also former Rutgers football players, NBC News New York said.

One of the former students charged in that case, along with four other current students, are facing charges in separate home invasion cases, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. In those cases, students’ homes were targeted for drugs and cash. One of those defendants is also a Rutgers player, NJ.com said.

Rutgers has suspended all of the players who were arrested, according to a statement from the school’s Athletic Director Julie Hermann:

“The students involved are currently suspended from our program. We continue to monitor the situation. We will have no further comment as this is a pending legal matter. “

Nine of the ten defendants were arrested Thursday. One remains at large, authorities said.

Tejay Johnson, 23, a former Rutgers student from Egg Harbor, Ruhann Peele, 22, and Nadir Barnwell, 20, both of Piscataway; Rahzonn Gross, 20, of Franklin Park, and Delon Stephenson, 22, and his brother, Daryl Stephenson, 23, both of Sayreville were charged Thursday in connection with the April assault on Delafield Street in New Brunswick, authorities said. Daryl Stephenson, a former Rutgers student, remains at large.

Peele, Barnwell, Gross and Delon Stephenson are Rutgers football players, NJ.com said. Johnson and Daryl Stephenson are former football players, WNBC reported.

Barnwell is the player at the center of the recent issue involving Rutgers coach Kyle Flood, according to NJ.com. University officials are investigating an email reportedly sent by the coach to an instructor about Barnwell’s status, NJ.com said. At Rutgers, coaches are not allow to have direct contact with their players’ professors, according to NBC Sports.

Johnson and Andre Boggs are also charged in connection with home invasion cases, authorities said. Boggs is also a current football player for the school, NJ.com reported.

According to a news release from Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and New Brunswick Police Director Anthony A. Caputo:

On April 25, Johnson, Peele, Barnwell, Gross and the Stephenson brothers surrounded and assaulted at least four victims in an unproved attack on Delafield Street. One of the victims was a 19-year-old male student whose jaw was broken.

The six defendants in that case were charged with aggravated assault, riot, and conspiracy to commit a riot.

Johnson has also been charged in three home invasion cases.

Around 11:30 p.m. April 26, New Brunswick police were called to Prosper Street after three masked men forced their way inside and stole cash and marijuana from five students at gunpoint.

Police charged Johnson with robbery, criminal restraint, theft, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in connection with that case.

As their investigation continued, police were able to link Johnson to an April 27 home invasion on Hartwell Street in the city.

In that case, Johnson and Boggs, 20, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, were armed with a bat and knife when they forced their way into the home and stole approximately $900 and marijuana from a student.

Police determined another student, Dylan Mastriana, 19, of Rio Grande, helped plan the robbery.

The three were taken into custody Thursday in connection with that case and charged with robbery, burglary while armed, and conspiracy to commit an armed robbery.

In a third case, Johnson and Boggs were charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and attempted burglary while armed. In that case, the pair tried to force their way into another student’s dorm room on the Livingston campus in Piscataway on May 5.

The same charges were also filed against Mastriana, Jianan Chen, 19, of New Brunswick, and Kaylanna Ricks, 20, of Perth Amboy. Investigators determined that Mastriana and Chen planned that robbery, while Ricks drove Johnson and Boggs in a getaway vehicle.

Johnson and Boggs got into the dorm and tried to force their way into the room, but the victims managed to lock their door. The defendants fled and nothing was stolen in that incident.

As part of their investigation, detectives on Aug. 28 searched an apartment on Hamilton Street in New Brunswick. They seized 93 grams of marijuana, a stun gun, and $35,273 that was raised in illicit drug transactions.

Jianan Chen was charged on Aug. 29 with possession of a controlled dangerous substance, possession with intent to distribute, and possession of the stun gun.

Bail has been set at $625,000 for Johnson; $500,000 each for Boggs and Mastriana; $100,000 for Chen and Ricks; $75,000 for Delon Stephenson, and $25,000 each for Daryl Stephenson, Peele, Barnwell, and Gross.

Carey and Caputo praised the investigators who worked on the cases and also thanked the Rutgers University Police Department and the Egg Harbor Township Police Department for their help.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information on these or similar cases is asked to call Detective Drew Weiss of the New Brunswick Police Department at (732) 745­-5217, or Detective Gregory Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-4054.

According to the Rutgers roster, Barnwell, a junior, played for Piscataway High School; Boggs, a sophomore, played for Coatesville and Avon Old Farms; Gross, a sophomore, played at Don Bosco Prep; Peele, a junior, played at Linden High School, and Stephenson, a junior, played for Sayreville and Milford Academy.