Three suspects hold up student

One was found with $12,000 of cocaine and Brett Levinson Three men were arrested on suspicion of robbing a male Penn student at gunpoint at 4015 Baltimore Ave. at about 7:10 p.m. last night. One of the suspects was carrying a loaded .380 Lancir semiautomatic handgun and 130 grams of crack cocaine with a street value of $12,000, University Police Capt. John Richardson said. According to University Police Sgt. Mike Fink, the three men robbed the student of a black leather jacket and an undisclosed amount of cash. The victim could not positively identify the suspects, Fink added. The jacket and the money were recovered by police. The jacket was found on the ground near where it was taken. The victim claimed that three men approached him in front of his residence on Baltimore Avenue, Fink said. Through his jacket, one suspect pointed what appeared to be a weapon at the victim, he said. After the student was robbed, he flagged down a University Escort van. The driver notified University Police of the incident by radio. University Police officer Frederick Ricelli apprehended three men matching the suspects' description. Two were seen running out from behind an apartment complex at 4045 Baltimore Ave., and Ricelli located the third suspect across the street. Approximately 10 University and Philadelphia police officers responded to the scene. One suspect was arrested on narcotics and weapons possession charges, Fink said. The other two men will be held for questioning. According to police, the narcotics and the firearm were taken to the Philadelphia Administrative Building in Center City for ballistics and chemical analyses. Two men fitting the suspects' description also robbed a male student at knifepoint at 40th and Chestnut streets at about 10:30 p.m. Monday, according to University Police. One suspect was described as bald, and the other had a foreign accent. The two suspects took $40 and a MAC card from the student and fled east on Chestnut Street. In an unrelated incident, two men held up a SEPTA Route 13 trolley at gunpoint at 33rd and Market streets at 4:45 a.m. yesterday, according to Richardson. The suspects robbed both the passengers and the driver of the vehicle. Later in the morning, two men were arrested for a similar incident at a trolley at 50th and Locust streets. Police recovered a BB gun from one of the suspects. University Police speculate that the incident may be a reaction to the recently released movie The Money Train, starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. University Police officials said they have stepped up efforts to check subway platforms and elevated trains in the University City area. "We want to allay the fears of the campus community who ride the subway, and the trolley lines," Richardson said. Law enforcement officials have speculated that a scene in The Money Train may have led to the torching of a token booth in the New York City subway on Sunday.

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