A second Bermudian was involved in an alleged carjacking and armed robbery in the US, it was revealed yesterday.

For Police in Atlanta, Georgia, confirmed one of the two men arrested with Island schoolboy soccer star Wolde Place in connection with the Atlanta offence was Austin Simons, a Bermudian student in the Georgia city.

Simons, 20, was charged along with Bermudian Wolde Place, 19, in connection with the incident.

He faces three counts -- armed robbery, carjacking and possession of marijuana.

The two appeared in Fulton Country Magistrates Court on Monday, together with co-accused Neal Daniel, understood to be from the US or British Virgin Islands.

Place, whose family lives in Pembroke, is charged with armed robbery, carjacking, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm in commission of a crime, pointing a gun at another and possession of marijuana.

International Business Education Award winner Place, a former pupil of Saltus Grammar School and the Berkeley Institute and a student in Atlanta, was remanded in custody after Monday's preliminary hearing.

Simons is understood to have been released on bail pending another court appearance.

Atlanta student Fraanje Vandiver was ordered from his car at gunpoint by three men while it was stopped at traffic lights.

He was made to lie on the ground and his wallet and keys were stolen. When a car passed the scene, he ran off and two shots were fired at him as he fled, although he was uninjured.

Police rushed to the scene after a nearby resident tipped them off that he had heard gunshots.

The two Bermudians and the other alleged culprit were arrested near the scene by officers from the Georgia Institute of Technology Police Department.

If convicted, Place could face a minimum jail term of ten years, with no chance of parole under the US's get tough policy on gun crime.

BERMUDIAN BDA