Student shot by pellet; 3 robbed at gunpoint

University Police responded to several reports of violent crime this weekend, including a shooting with a pellet gun, three gunpoint robberies and two indecent assaults. University Police Sergeant Susan Holmes said police were constantly busy during the weekend, especially on Saturday night, when they broke up several fights across campus. Responding to a call from a witness, police caught four suspects near the scene. They charged Andrew Niles, 20, of 309 South 40th Street with aggravated assault and weapons offenses. The other suspects were released. The victim, a fifth-year student, told police that four men approached him and one reached into his pocket. He said he heard a loud pop and then his leg went numb. He reported the incident minutes later to police. At the same time, a witness told police he saw the group shooting a gun at students. Police had caught the suspects before the victim was able to report the incident. The witness identified Niles as the one with the gun. Police found pellets in his left jacket pocket and found the gun in a hedge 15 feet away from where they caught him. This is the second shooting this fall with a pellet gun in the 40th Street area. Last month freshman Jarred Hirsch was shot just above the right eye outside of the McDonald's Restaurant on 40th and Walnut streets. Holmes said she did not know if Niles is a suspect in the Hirsch incident, but University Police spokesperson Sylvia Canada said the gun was sent to the Philadelphia Police Department's laboratory for analysis. In the first gunpoint robbery, a student was punched in the face and robbed on the 4300 block of Spruce Street at 8:35 p.m. last night. The student was treated and released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. University Police arrested four men in connection with the robbery, and expect to charge at least one of them with robbery and aggravated assault today. Information on the men arrested was not immediately available. In a separate incident, police arrested a suspect in two armed robberies at 40th and Pine streets. Holmes said the suspect was released into the custody of city detectives, who will investigate the robberies. A student was robbed of $15 in cash at gunpoint by two men at 2:53 a.m. Saturday. Another student was robbed at the same corner at 4:10 a.m. at gunpoint, also by two men. The second student lost some cash and a watch. Police have made no arrests in a third armed robbery, at 10 minutes past midnight Sunday morning on the 4300 block of Spruce Street. Holmes said the victim reported being robbed at gunpoint by four men who fled in a black car. Holmes said police also investigated two reported indecent assaults, one by seven men on Locust Walk. The victim was unable to identify a suspect stopped by police. In the second, two women from another local school reported that they were grabbed on the breast and buttocks by several men at the St. Anthony's Hall fraternity house at 3637 Locust Walk. Further information on the perpetrators was not immediately available. One student sustained injuries to the face when he and another student were assaulted by two men at about 3 a.m. Friday on the 4000 block of Irving Street, near the Saladalley restaurant. Police also responded twice Saturday morning to break up fights at the Gold Standard/Christian Association building on Locust Walk. They arrested two males at about 1 a.m. for fighting, using obscene language and refusing to cooperate with police officers. The two men were issued citations. Minutes later, police issued two more citations to a man and a woman for inciting a riot and refusing to comply with a police order. Police arrested a student Saturday at the food court at 3401 Cafe at 34th and Walnut streets for underage drinking. Holmes said the student had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath, had speech problems and was carrying a flask. Holmes also reported two thefts in nearby subway stations Sunday. A student reported having his wallet stolen by a pickpocket at 30th and Market streets and another reported having a bag containg a $1,000 watch stolen at the 37th and Spruce streets station.

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