Two College Students Arrested in Robbery

Two Golden West College basketball players who were arrested on suspicion of armed robbery are being held in Los Angeles County Jail.

Tremaine Carroll, 24, of Paramount and Demetrius Nettles, 21, of Los Angeles were arrested Wednesday afternoon at basketball practice on the Huntington Beach campus by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who allege they robbed a South Bay check-cashing business last month, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Bob Killeen. Bail for each is set at $50,000, Killeen said, and their arraignment is scheduled for Monday.

“We are very disappointed that this happened,” said Tom Hermstead, athletic director at Golden West College. “We’re very concerned about the impact of this on the rest of the team, of course.”

Before this week’s arrest, the 5-foot-10 Carroll played point guard for the Golden West team, and was averaging two points and three rebounds per game. The 6-foot-3 Nettles averaged 17 points and eight rebounds per game.

The teammates and a third man allegedly robbed the owner of a check-cashing store in Carson and escaped with $4,000, Killeen said. No one was injured and no shots were fired, he said.

Deputies also arrested Joey Mills, 27, at his workplace in Woodland Hills on Wednesday in connection with the robbery, Killeen said. Mills is not a student at Golden West.

Apparently, the two Golden West players were parolees and both had prior convictions for robbery, Killeen said.

“We were aware of that,” Hermstead said. “But they were legally in school and were eligible for the basketball team.”