Three teenagers have been arrested for the attack and attempted robbery of a 14-year-old boy on the golf cart path behind Harmony Village and Balmoral Village apartments just over a week ago.

One of the suspects lives at Harmony Village, police said: William Jamrius Joyner, 17. The other two live in Sharpsburg: Cortez Coleman of Emory Philips Road and a 16-year-old juvenile, police said.

All three were charged with criminal attempt to commit robbery and battery, police said. All three also confessed to participating in the incident, said Police Chief James Murray.

Joyner is a senior and a member of the Starr’s Mill High School football team; he was arrested Tuesday afternoon at practice.

Fayette County Magistrate Charles R. Floyd set a $6,000 bond on Joyner Wednesday as Coleman is awaiting a bond hearing.

Murray said he was appalled at the low bond amount set on Joyner.

“I think that sends a real bad message to people who want to commit crimes on our cart paths,” Murray said, noting that the crime was violent in nature. “That (amount) is what people get for driving with a suspended license.”

Police said the three suspects stopped the victim, who was visiting from out of state, and attacked him on the cart path behind Harmony Village around 5:25 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2. After first asking for a ride to the nearby Publix shopping center, the three suspects attacked the juvenile and demanded money from him, police said.

Not only did they not get any money, but the youth was able to defend himself to the point where the suspects ran away into the apartment complex, police said.

Murray chalked the arrests up to diligent police work. Part of the reason it took so long is because the victim has returned home to his out-of-state residence, Murray said.

Officers canvassed the area interviewing residents, eventually developing small leads that led to a big payoff, Murray said. It also took some time for police to get photos of the suspects so they could be positively identified, Murray added.

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