University City Police have arrested and charged Bryant N. Taylor for the robbery of sophomore Eric Tsai on Sunday evening.

Taylor, 20, who lives on the 7700 block of Folk Avenue, has been charged with 2nd degree robbery in connection to the mugging of Tsai and sophomore Aaron Belkin on the 500 block of Melville Avenue around 7:50 p.m. on Sunday.

The arrest was announced by a press release from the University City Police Department (UCPD) on Monday afternoon.

Belkin said that he and Tsai were assaulted by four assailants as they were walking on Melville toward the Delmar Loop. Tsai was struck in the face and dropped his wallet and cell phone, according to Belkin.

Belkin recalled an assailant instructing Tsai to run toward Washington University if he did not want be hurt further. While it was unclear at the time if the assailants possessed a weapon, UCPD has concluded that no weapons were involved in the robbery.

The charge of 2nd degree robbery is for robbery by force but with no weapons.

Two of the assailants fled the scene following the robbery while the remaining two pursued Belkin, who was running around the area looking for help.

“I started yelling, ‘Someone call the police,’ and nobody heard,” Belkin said. “I was helpless; I was trying to find someone, and they were punching my friend.”

Belkin said he saw a girl getting out of her car on Kingsbury Boulevard and told her to remain in the vehicle and call the police. The assailants then tried to flee, and Belkin pursued them.

Holt said he was driving on Melville toward Delmar Boulevard when he saw Belkin pursuing two of the assailants on foot near the Greenway dumpsters. Holt, who eventually drove on Delmar to Leland Avenue, picked up Belkin at the street corner before making a U-turn on Delmar to pursue the two suspects.

During this episode, Holt said, he dialed 911 and continued to relay the suspects’ location to the University City Police Department.

“We ran down there, and I made eye contact with one [of the suspects], and he looked at me and looked really frazzled,” Holt said. “He made wild eyes at me. He looked so angry, like he was about to hurt someone.”

The chase concluded on Delmar near the Tivoli Theatre, where police arrested the two assailants around 8:10 p.m., Holt and Belkin said. The suspects were identified because they had Tsai’s phone and wallet.

Tsai, whose face was bruised, arrived and identified the suspects by their faces. The entire ordeal ended by 8:20 p.m.

UCPD would not comment on the details of the robbery. The investigation of the robbery remains ongoing.

It is unclear whether Taylor was apprehended on Delmar near the Tivoli or if he was arrested at a later time.

The victims initially reported that the robbery occurred on the 400 Block of Melville, but the report from UCPD has listed the incident as occurring on the 500 block after interviews with the suspect and victims.

Washington University Police Chief Don Strom said that the University did not issue a crime alert to the community since the threat of another incident was neutralized by Taylor’s arrest.

Strom also advised that victims consider the pros and cons of pursuing an assailant, but he emphasized that he was not criticizing the actions of Belkin and Holt.

“It was a choice that they made,” Strom said, adding that Belkin and Holt had determined that any threat against further injury to them was worth the risk of the pursuit.

Strom did, however, offer some general guidelines for victims of a robbery or similar crime.

“We wouldn’t encourage people to chase somebody. Just notify the police as quickly as they can. If they can keep them in eyesight from a distance, [that’s fine].”