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ROBBERY Ashland High School athletes charged with Measure 11 crimes Comment By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous DailyTidings.com By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Feb. 22, 2016 at 4:41 PM Updated Feb 23, 2016 at 4:13 PM By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Feb. 22, 2016 at 4:41 PM Updated Feb 23, 2016 at 4:13 PM » Social News Three Ashland High School athletes accused of holding up a pizza delivery woman with a stun gun are facing Measure 11 robbery charges that carry a minimum sentence of almost six years in prison upon conviction. Melchizedek Michael Jaleel Elshalom, 17, James Clifford Hutchings, 17, and Michael James Zawadi Pruitt, 18, each face two counts of second-degree robbery for the Feb. 15 incident. Second-degree robbery is a Measure 11 crime in Oregon that carries a minimum sentence of five years and 10 months in prison and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Led into Jackson County Circuit Court Monday wearing gray juvenile detention center sweat clothes, Elshalom and Hutchings were arraigned on the felony charges Monday. Both entered not guilty pleas. Jackson County Circuit Judge Kelly Ravassipour advised the two — who appeared without lawyers — to enter the not guilty pleas and seek the advice of lawyers. "These are very serious charges," Ravassipour said. Elshalom asked for the assistance of a public defender, while Hutchings said he intended to retain an attorney. Elshalom has a previous juvenile record involving third-degree criminal mischief, while Hutchings has no prior juvenile record, according to court testimony Monday. Criminal mischief is a misdemeanor that typically involves damaging property. Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Virginia Greer asked that the teens' bail be set at $500,000. Ravassipour set their bail at $100,000 each. They both have pre-trial conference hearings scheduled for March 7 in court. The three teens played varsity football for Ashland High School, and Elshalom and Pruitt were listed as members of the school's varsity basketball team. Pruitt, 18, is scheduled to be arraigned on two counts of second-degree robbery Thursday. His bail was set at $50,000, and he was granted supervised pre-trial release Feb. 18, according to court records. The Medford law firm Carini & Francis is representing him, according to court documents. Pruitt was the subject of a feature article in the Daily Tidings in November 2015 that profiled his journey from being an orphan in Kenya to his move to Ashland with his adoptive parents when his father took a job as an accounting manager with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In the article, at bit.ly/1TBtjWS , Pruitt, who played basketball, soccer and rugby in Kenya, said it took him a while to adjust to the brutality of American football. He would pulverize opponents at the line of scrimmage, then back off as the play developed. He wanted to do his job, but not at the risk of demoralizing another player. Watching game film, coaches encouraged Pruitt to play to the whistle, pointing out how those opponents could potentially scramble back to their feet and still make a tackle downfield. “I’m not saying I’m not a nice guy,” Pruitt said in the article, “but I never wanted to hurt anyone or bully anyone, because I’ve always been bigger and stronger than most of my friends in Kenya.” Before his arrest, Pruitt had committed to playing football for Western Oregon University. He signed a letter of intent Feb. 3 in the Ashland High School trophy room while flanked by his father and a coach. The alleged robbery occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Feb. 15 near the corner of Terra Avenue and Mohawk Street in Ashland. A female driver for the Great American Pizza Co. had tried to deliver a pizza at an address on Mohawk Street, but a resident there denied ordering one. When the delivery person walked back to her car, a man approached her and said he had placed the order, police said. According to police reports, as the delivery driver reached back into the car to get the pizza, she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her back. She turned and saw the man holding a device that looked like a stun gun. She also spotted two other men walking to her vehicle. The group demanded the pizza and the money the driver carried, police said. She surrendered the food and drove away. Although police initially said the driver wasn't shocked by the stun gun, evidence later clarified that she had been. Police declined to say whether the robbers also got cash. Investigators said they identified the suspects after retrieving images of them walking into a 7-Eleven store at 1281 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland. Ashland police said the suspects came to the police station willingly for interviews late on Feb. 16 after investigators got in touch with family members. Staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] . Follow her at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous . By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous DailyTidings.com By Vickie Aldous for the Tidings Follow @@VickieAldous Posted Feb. 22, 2016 at 4:41 PM Updated Feb 23, 2016 at 4:13 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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