Student kidnapped, robbed near campus

A man and woman kidnapped a male University student at gunpoint early Sunday morning and drove him a few blocks from campus to a MAC machine, forcing him to withdraw $380 from his account before releasing him, police said. The student was not injured in the incident, which lasted about 10 minutes, according to police. The incident began Sunday at 1:16 a.m., when the student heard a car come to a "screeching stop" near him as he walked near the intersection of 38th and Walnut streets, according to University Police Det. Commander Tom King. A man wielding a black revolver then got out of the maroon Ford Taurus and demanded the student's money, police said. After the student said he didn't have any cash, the robber asked for his credit cards, at which point the student surrendered his MAC card, King explained. Police said the man then forced the student into the car and drove him to an unspecified local MAC machine. The student's card didn't work at that machine, however, forcing the perpetrators to drive him to another MAC machine at 32nd and Market streets, according to police. This time the card worked. The student withdrew $380 in cash and handed it to the robbers, who fled from the scene, police said. Detectives investigating the incident for the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives bureau were unavailable for comment Tuesday. In an unrelated incident December 3, a man robbed a female University student at knifepoint in a driveway on the 4100 block of Spruce Street, according to King. After the perpetrator forced the woman into the driveway, he pulled out a knife and demanded her money. The suspect fled east on Spruce Street after the student handed over $5 in cash, police said. The woman was not injured in the incident, and police have yet to arrest a suspect. The two robberies bring the total number of such incidents within the University Police jurisdiction to approximately 45 for the fall semester. The kidnapping incident marks the 23rd robbery at gunpoint this semester within University Police jurisdiction, which runs from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from the Schuylkill River to 43rd Street. On- and off-campus robberies -- including robberies at gunpoint -- dropped sharply this semester compared to the same time last year, according to police statistics.

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