After denying them bond, a Fulton County judge didn’t hold back as he scolded two players on Life University’s women’s lacrosse team who are accused of driving two masked men to an armed robbery in Atlanta last month.
“You are as dangerous to the community as the two guys who went into the house because you could have stopped it and didn’t,” Judge Todd Ashley said in court Monday.
Lyndsey Kallish, 19, of Johns Creek, and Lauren Rielly, 20, of Alpharetta, will remain in jail while facing more than a dozen charges in the Nov. 8 incident at an Airbnb on Wylie Street. The two women were arrested Nov. 16, while a third suspect, 23-year-old Maxx Pritchett, was arrested Nov. 22, AJC.com previously reported.
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Atlanta police Investigator Carlos Maldonado testified that he tied the women to the crime because Rielly’s vehicle matched the one in surveillance footage from the scene the night of the armed robbery. Prosecutors said the women were paid as drivers by the two men and were not going to receive any of the items stolen during the incident.
During the party at the Airbnb, two people were pistol-whipped as Pritchett and an unidentified fourth suspect combed through the home for cellphones, wallets and Nike shoes, police said.
MORE: Masked men crash party at SE Atlanta Airbnb, rob guests at gunpoint, police say
The fourth suspect is still at large. His description was not provided.
The surveillance video shows a group walking near the home before the robbery. Two women walked into the home and left minutes later, followed soon after by the two masked men storming into the house.
Police told Channel 2 Action News they have been called to the same Airbnb rental property 17 times this year. The four-story Reynoldstown home can accommodate more than 16 guests and is available for large groups or parties, according to an online listing that has since been removed from Airbnb’s website.
“So in terms of danger to the community, you knew exactly what was going on in that house,” Ashley said to the two women in court. “Is that shocking to anybody? It’s shocking to me.”
Kallish and Rielly initially faced 19 charges, but prosecutors declined to move forward with one charge against both suspects, court records show. Prosecutors dropped a count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, since Maldonado and the suspects’ attorneys said neither woman knew the masked men were armed before the incident.
“There’s no evidence that she knew any weapons were going to be used during the planning or the drive over there,” Kallish’s attorney, Lawrence Zimmerman, said.
Pritchett, who faces 20 charges, has not made his first court appearance.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
One of the victims, 23-year-old Vik Gattani, told Channel 2 he was hit several times with the butt of a gun. He suffered a fractured skull and had to go to a hospital.
“He hit me on the head and busted my head open,” Gattani, who was working as a DJ during the party, said.
After the incident, Rielly is accused of sending a text message to Kallish that said, “Why was it so sexy that the boys were like beating people up?” She added that she wanted to have sex with one of the robbers, prosecutors said.
Ashley quoted the texts when he denied their bond, adding that they “should have known better (than to) think it’s sexy to see people victimized.”
Kallish and Rielly are listed on the Marietta private university's women's lacrosse team roster for 2018-19.
“Life University is aware of the arrests and ongoing investigation involving two of our students, and we understand the serious nature of the incident,” a spokesman told Channel 2 in a statement. “Until such time as all matters have been settled through the legal system, the University has no further comment on the investigation.”
Kallish and Rielly have another bond hearing scheduled for late January, Channel 2 reported.
The women are the second and third Cobb County college athletes recently arrested in connection with a violent crime. Kamiyah Street, the starting point guard for Kennesaw State University's women's basketball team, faces murder and other charges. Street is among five indicted in a deadly July shooting at a southwest Atlanta apartment complex.
RELATED: 4 more charged with murder along with KSU point guard
Anyone with information on the Wylie Street incident or the fourth outstanding suspect is asked to come forward. Tipsters can remain anonymous, and be eligible for rewards of up to $2,000, by contacting Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477, texting information to 274637 or visiting the Crime Stoppers website.
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