Soph attacked by several boys

A female College sophomore was attacked at gunpoint by several adolescents early yesterday evening, while riding her bike on River Drive near the University boathouse. The incident, in which nothing was stolen, led to a foot chase in which another student followed one of the assailants into a nearby apartment complex, the students involved said. The sophomore, who asked to remain anonymous, said last night that the incident occurred at 5:40 p.m. while she was on her way home from crew practice. On her way, the student said she passed an adolescent boy who was running. As she passed him, she said, the boy grabbed her shirt and knocked her off balance. The attacker, who revealed that he was armed, then demanded her mountain bike, while five to seven other male adolescents appeared at the scene, she said. The student said she told the assailants that there were people following her, rather than handing over her bike. "I stopped and he said, 'Give me the bike you fucking bitch,' " the sophomore said. "I told him a bunch of really large men were following me." She said the attacker knew that she was bluffing, and attempted to wrestle the bike away from her, handing the gun to one of the other boys. He tackled the sophomore and started kicking her in the head, she said. While she was on the ground, College senior Kenneth Rowles and Wharton senior Colin McGranahan, also on the crew team, heard her yelling for help, Rowles said. "She called out for Ken and was holding her head," McGranahan said. "She was crying about a gun." At that point, the gang of boys split up and ran from the scene, McGranahan said. McGranahan then began to chase three of the boys, one of whom carried the gun, McGranahan said. He chased the three boys across Kelly Drive and caught up with the armed boy near an apartment complex, McGranahan said. The boy turned around and pulled out the weapon, which McGranahan said was a B.B. gun. McGranahan said he then saw an older male sitting in front of a building. The boy introduced the man as his brother, McGranahan said. "[The older brother] said 'What did he do, shoot somebody?' I said he hit this girl and needs to go talk to her," McGranahan said. McGranahan said he then grabbed the boy. The older man said, "Don't touch my brother," McGranahan said. "His hand went down to his pocket and there was a shape of a gun in the pocket," the student added. At that point, McGranahan, who said he got a good look at the man and the boy, decided to leave because "a 12-year-old with a B.B. gun is one thing, but a 22-year-old with a real one is another." The man and the boy walked off. Meanwhile, Rowles, who had a bike, rode back to the boat house, where he met College senior and crew member Mike Healey. Healey dialed 911 and headed to the scene of the crime with Rowles, five other crew members and the crew coach, Healey said. Philadelphia Police arrived at the original scene of the crime 40 minutes after they were called, McGranahan said. The students said one of several onlookers identified the attackers as members of a gang. According to Healey, Philadelphia Police said last week that the same group of boys robbed a man and two women of two bikes this week.

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