BREAKING NEWS: ETSU student arrested for lying about robbery on campus

Update at 2:32 p.m. by Nate Morabito, 11 Connects:

According to ETSU Media Relations Director Joe Smith, ETSU Public Safety officers arrested ETSU student LaDarius Taylor today for filing a false report Thursday about a robbery on campus.

"The incident never occurred," Smith said.

According to Smith, Taylor did not explain why he made up the story about two men trying to rob him early Thursday morning. He told officers the two men stole his cell phone.

Although Thursday's incident has now been ruled a hoax, Smith says officers are continuing to investigate an attack Monday on another student.

Update at 11:22 a.m. by Nate Morabito, 11 Connects:

After reviewing surveillance tapes around the East Tennessee State University campus, ETSU Public Safety officers still have no solid leads as to two separate violent crimes that occurred there this week. Thursday, the university alerted the campus after a student said he was robbed by two men. Monday morning, the campus sent out an alert after another student said a man attacked him, ultimately knocking him unconscious.

According to ETSU Media Relations Director Joe Smith, public safety officers took a closer look at surveillance tapes, but found no new information as to who the attackers may be.

Update at 4:24 p.m. by Nate Morabito, 11 Connects:

Despite two Gold Alerts in one week and similarities among both cases, East Tennessee State University says it is still too early to tell if two crimes reported on campus just days apart are connected.

"One of the victims was physically harmed, the other one wasn't," ETSU Media Relations Director Joe Smith said while comparing the two crimes. "Robbery was involved in one case. It was not involved in the other. In one of the situations, the victim heard the voice of the suspect. In the other one, that didn't happen."

ETSU issued an alert Thursday morning after a student said two men robbed him overnight while he was walking near Ross Hall Dormitory. The student said the men snuck up on him, frisked him, took his phone, and then ran off. Monday morning, another student accused a man of attacking him and knocking him unconscious in the nearby College Heights area of campus. ETSU Public Safety has not yet made any arrests in either of these cases.

Although both have their differences, Smith says the university is looking into the possibility that the crimes could be linked. After all, both occurred in the same part of campus, around the same time of night. Both cases have quickly captured the attention of students.

"I'm shocked," ETSU Junior Emily Robbins said. "The past few semesters that I've been here, you really haven't had to worry about it that much and you kind of feel safe and relaxed, but now you have to be careful and be more aware of what's going on around you."

Although the university is urging students, faculty, and staff to be extra careful, especially at night, ETSU wants people to rest assured that the campus is safe.

"I've been on this campus either as a student or an employee for 19 years," Smith said. "I feel as safe today as I did the first day and we are a safe campus. These situations are very concerning to us."

Update at 11:37 a.m by Josh Smith, 11 Connects:

According to a police report obtained by 11 Connects , a student says he was robbed while walking back to his Dossett Hall dorm early Thursday morning. Two men, "told me not to make no sudden moves," according to the student's statement to police. "They patted me down to see if I had anything valuable on me. I had my phone around my neck. They took it off my neck and told me not to turn around."

According to the police report, the student didn't see the suspects as they ran from the location of the robbery, the area of John Robert Bell Drive and South Dossett at Ross Hall.

The police narrative says the robbery victim only saw the feet of the two male suspects as they ran to parking lot 15. The victim says he went to Dossett Hall and called his mother.

First update :

Here's the information issued by East Tennessee State University Police this morning:

"Be alert to a new alleged robbery attempt on Seehorn Rd. near Powell Hall after midnight Thursday. Investigation ongoing."

No other information was released.