A 15-year-old Oberlin resident has taken responsibility for two recent muggings. The boy’s partners in one of the robberies remain at large.

The juvenile admitted to police that he joined some other youths in the robbery of two Oberlin College students on West Vine Street on October 27. He also acknowledged robbing a woman in the parking lot of the IGA supermarket on October 29 on his own.

“We don’t know who the other people are, but he would not give up the names of the other people who were involved,” said Captain Clifton Barnes of the Oberlin Police Department.

Barnes said the 15-year-old was driven by a desire to prove himself to his peers. “He was being teased as not being very tough,” said Barnes.

In the first robbery, one victim turned over several credit cards and $45 and in the second case, the 15-year-old perpetrator left the scene when the woman dropped her cell phone and said she did not have any money. In both cases, the youth reportedly used a BB gun that resembled a real handgun.

“We got cooperation from his mother to interview him and he admitted to what happened, said Barnes.

The 15-year-old’s case has been referred to the juvenile court for determination of prior charges. “If he were an adult, he’d be facing at least a ten year prison sentence, but he’s 15, the Department of Youth Services can only hold him until he is 21, and he has no priors,” said Barnes.