UB Police arrest man loitering on Main Street campus for early-morning robbery

BUFFALO, N.Y. – University at Buffalo Police Thursday arrested a 25-year-old man sleeping in his car on campus, charging him with robbing a woman early Wednesday morning at the university’s South Campus along Bailey Avenue.

Jonathan A. Huitt was charged with criminal possession of stolen property and robbery when police matched him and his vehicle with a description given by a Buffalo woman who said she was robbed and threatened while she walked to work at about 5:50 a.m.

Huitt told police he had no address and was sleeping in his car because he needed a place to sleep. Huitt will face two felony charges when he is arraigned Friday at Buffalo City Court for first-degree robbery and criminal possession of stolen property

UB police also found a 15-year-old girl listed as a missing person with outstanding Family Court warrants in the car. Huitt will also be charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child under the age of 17.

Huitt was arrested by UB Police Officers Dave Hoyden and Bruce Pepi when they spotted Huitt’s car on the Main Street campus. Officers saw Huitt and the 15-year-old girl sleeping in the front seat. The girl, who UB police said may have been from Alabama based on her identification, was not related to the suspect.

Huitt is charged with approaching the woman on her way to work and threatening to kill her if she did not turn over her purse. The suspect threatened to use a knife, but did not display a weapon during the robbery, according to the victim. He then ran toward his car on Goodyear Road and drove toward Hayes Road, according to UB police.

Neither person in the car had any connection to the university but were on campus because they were homeless and needed a place to sleep.

Huitt was in the Buffalo Police Lock-up pending his Friday arraignment.