Students robbed at gunpoint

Two University students were robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight Wednesday and a Drexel University student was held up at gunpoint early Thursday morning in two possibly related incidents. University Police said the two students, one of whom was a senior, reported that they were walking on the 3900 block of Pine Street at about 3:40 p.m. when two adult males approached them. The students said the men each pulled small black handguns, probably .22 caliber or smaller, and told them to hand over their wallets. After the men took the wallets, they forced the students to lie down on the sidewalk. After frisking the students twice, the men fled on foot toward 40th Street. University Police spokesperson Sylvia Canada said the students reported losing several credit cards, University identification cards, drivers' licenses and other documents. The students immediately reported the incident in person to University Police but police did not make any arrests. Canada said police have no suspects. Canada said the students described one of the men as about 6'1" tall, weighing about 180 pounds and wearing shorts and a light T-shirt. The other man was described as about 5'9" tall and 160 pounds, wearing dark clothing. Police said the robbery of the Drexel student occured at 3:07 a.m. on the 300 block of South 40th Street. Canada said the student was walking alone when a man threatened him with a small handgun and tried to pull him into an alley. Canada said the student told police the man said "This is a robbery, don't make it a murder," before robbing him of $50 to $60. The man, described as being about 5'10" with a thin build. He was wearing tan pants and a tan shirt and had a moustache. Canada said the two holdups may be related since both were committed with small, black handguns. She said police have no suspects in either case and do not know of any other connections. University Police have responded to a total of four armed robberies within the past week. Last weekend, a group of five men on foot and on bicycles robbed several students and local residents at gunpoint in the 40th to 41st Street area. Canada said the weekend attacks are not neccessarily related to the ones last week. The Pine Street robbery distinguishes itself from the others because it occurred in a well-traveled area during daylight hours. Canada stressed that walking in groups and avoiding walking at night can cut down the risk of crime. She said the victims in both of the recent incidents behaved properly by cooperating with their assailants. "I was glad to see the students didn't do anything that would cause them further harm," she said. "The did the right thing by cooperating with the subjects because they had weapons." Canada also said reporting the incidents immediately was also important. She said even though police were unable to make arrests in these cases, early reporting of crimes makes it possible for police to watch for subjects fleeing the area or attempting to commit other crimes.

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