Ex-Rutgers Football Player Admits To Armed Robberies

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A young man who was once pegged as a standout to lead Rutgers' football program to victory pleaded guilty last week to multiple home invasions, in which fellow Rutgers students were targeted for drugs and cash.

Tejay Johnson, 26, originally of Egg Harbor, NJ cut a deal by admitting to three armed robberies; in exchange he will serve 15 years in prison.

Johnson was part of a string of five Rutgers football players who police say broke into campus housing and apartments throughout downtown New Brunswick in the spring of 2015, robbing other students at gunpoint.

Johnson was originally charged with more than 30 counts of charges including armed robbery, armed burglary, possession of weapons, theft and conspiracy. Police said that on April 26, 2015, Johnson was one of three masked men who forced their way into a home on Prosper Street in New Brunswick and stole an undisclosed amount of cash and marijuana from five students. Johnson and the others were armed with guns, police said.

On April 27, 2015, police linked Johnson and two others to a home invasion on Hartwell Street in New Brunswick. The investigation determined that Johnson and another individual forced their way into the home, armed with a bat and a knife, and robbed a student of approximately $900 as well as an undisclosed amount of marijuana.

Then, on May 5, 2015 a third home invasion took place where Johnson and another man tried to force their way into another student’s room in a dormitory complex at Livingston College in Piscataway. Both fled when the students targeted in the robbery resisted by closing and locking the door; nothing was stolen in that incident. Three other individuals were also involved in the planning and execution of the robbery.

As part of the plea agreement, an assault charge Johnson was facing from an incident on Delafield Street on April 25, 2015 was dismissed.

Photo from Rutgers University