The man accused of robbing an Eastern Michigan University student in August will have his trial moved to March, a county court judge ruled Wednesday.

Jeremiah Sawyer

Jeremiah Sawyer, who was 17 when arrested in August, is accused of stealing a student’s backpack from the Warner Building’s gymnastics room, according to police. Inside of the backpack were a laptop computer, an iPod and other items, police said.

Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Archie Brown originally set a trial date for Feb. 6, but Sawyer will now have his trial at 8:30 a.m. March 26. A final pretrial hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. March 14.

Police said the owner of the backpack followed Sawyer outside the building and confronted him about stealing the backpack. Sawyer then punched the man at least four times in the head, police said.

The victim got the backpack back and flagged down a police officer while others in the area called police. Officers responded to West Circle Drive and arrested Sawyer at the intersection of Ann Street and North Huron River Drive, police said.

Sawyer faces one count of unarmed robbery. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. He has one previous conviction for robbery in Lucas County, Ohio.

Sawyer is currently held in the Washtenaw County Jail on a $100,000 cash or surety bond. He is not allowed to return to EMU’s campus or have contact with the victim.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.