12-year-old arrested for robbery of Juli Boeheim, Syracuse coach’s wife

‘She’s definitely shook up. I mean this isn’t television, it’s not movies, it’s real life. Somebody puts a gun in a face,’ Jim Boeheim says

A 12-year-old boy has been arrested in connection to the robbery of Juli Boeheim, the wife of Syracuse University basketball coach Jim Boeheim.

Authorities announced the arrest on Thursday, saying that the robbery took place in the parking lot of a mall in Syracuse in upstate New York.

On 1 March, Ms Boeheim, 55, was sitting in her car at the Destiny USA mall when the boy approached her with “an airsoft gun,” took her purse and phone before entering a stolen car along with three men and speeding off, Syracuse police said in a statement.

The car was discovered on the eastern side of the city that same day.

The suspect is being held at the Hillbrook Detention Center. Police said he was booked on suspicion of second-degree robbery, criminal possession of a weapon, as well as grand larceny.

Because of his young age, the boy hasn’t been identified. It wasn’t immediately clear on Thursday if he has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

Mr Boeheim, 77, has been the head coach of Syracuse basketball since 1976.

“She’s definitely shook up. I mean this isn’t television, it’s not movies, it’s real life. Somebody puts a gun in a face,” Mr Boeheim told ESPN Syracuse last week. “She’s handling it well, I mean better than I probably would.”

“She’s a little shook but I think she’s doing much better than could be expected,” he added.

“I think the thing that helped her was it was a kid” compared to if it had been “an older man”, Mr Boeheim told ESPN.

The Jim and Juli Boeheim foundation raises money for cancer research and vulnerable youth.

“Her main thought was, ‘Let’s help this kid.’ That’s what she does, we do with our foundation,” Mr Boeheim said. “Try to help these kids. That was the first thing she said, ‘I feel like I want to help this kid.’ But that’s the way she thinks. That’s who she is. She tries to help people.”

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh told The Post-Standard this week that the mall where the robbery took place has “a real problem” with gun violence.

“Anytime you have a facility that large, with that many people in there, things are bound to happen,” Mr Walsh said. “But to have the number of gun-related incidents in a relatively short period of time is very concerning. And it needs to be addressed.”

Mr Boeheim has the second-most wins of any college basketball coach, with a record of more than a thousand wins and fewer than 500 losses.

Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils, who retired this month, tops the list.

The Boeheims’ two sons, Jimmy and Buddy, are currently on the Syracuse team.