3 students robbed over the weekend

University Police responded to a total of four robberies over the weekend, continuing an unusually high incidence of robbery this fall. Police also confiscated a loaded gun from an assault suspect and arrested a local man on theft charges. A University student was robbed at knifepoint just after midnight Sunday on the 4000 block of Pine Street. The student told police he was walking south on 40th Street toward Pine Street when he saw two men on the corner. He said one man called to him and they ran up behind him. One of the men pulled out a knife, told the student to "shut up" and demanded his money. The student handed over about $15 in cash and an address book. When the student asked to keep the book, one of the men jabbed him in the side with the knife. The student was not hurt but the knife punctured his leather jacket. The men then ran to a blue Cadillac double-parked on the street and drove off. Police interviewed one witness who confirmed the student's story, but were unable to make any arrests. In another incident, a local man and two juveniles robbed a University student with a toy gun at about 8 p.m. Saturday on the 42nd block of Pine Street. Police arrested the three on charges of armed robbery. The student said the three males pointed the toy gun at him but he thought it was real. He reported the incident to police who then spotted the suspects heading south on Baltimore Avenue towards 38th Street. Police stopped them and confiscated the plastic gun from Tyrone Whitney, 20, of 932 N. 42nd Street. Police charged Whitney and the two juveniles with armed robbery. One of the juveniles was carrying a key stolen from the victim. Police spokesperson Sylvia Canada said even though the gun was fake, the armed robbery charge was appropriate because the victim thought the gun was real. The most serious of the robbery incidents was Friday night, when College junior Roberta Koeppel was run over by a van during an attempted robbery near the intersection of 41st and Locust streets. In other incidents, police confiscated a real gun from three other local men about an hour later in the field between High Rise North and 40th Street. Police responded to a report of an assault on 40th and Spruce streets at about 9 p.m. and spotted three males who matched the description heading north on 40th Street. Police stopped them and told them they would be frisked. One male, Dereck Kennedy, 20, of 1026 S. Paxton Street, initially fled from police. Several officers cornered him after a chase across the field. Police found a loaded .38-caliber handgun in his possession. Kennedy was arrested and charged with a weapons violation. The other two men were released by police. The assault victim could not identify any of the suspects. A local youth was injured at about 4 p.m. Saturday on College Green after a fight at the Philadelphia Civic Center spilled over onto campus. The youth told police he tried to defend his sister in a fight after a Poor Righteous Teacher concert but was chased away by three youths. The youth went into Meyerson Hall and asked a security guard for help. When the other youths entered the building, he fled onto the Green. He told police the youths caught him and pushed him headfirst into a lamppost. The youths then stole his wallet, he said. Police arrested the three youths. Eric Lewis, 20, of the 1400 block of S. Hicks Street, and two juveniles were charged with strongarm robbery. Police also arrested a local man who tried to steal a videocassette recorder Sunday afternoon from St. Mary's Church Hall, at 3916 Locust Walk. The man, Dale Benjamin Jones, 27, of 436 Jefferson Street, was cornered by church personnel until police arrived. Police charged him with theft.

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