Students robbed at 40th and Pine

Another violent robbery occurred near campus early Friday morning, sending one Penn undergraduate to the hospital. The incident represents the 14th robbery or assault in the area over the past three weeks, but police made an arrest on Friday that they hope will help combat the trend. At about 3 a.m., two Penn undergraduates -- a 21-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man -- were attacked as they walked west on the 4000 block of Pine Street. Two men reportedly approached the victims quickly and knocked them to the ground. The men proceeded to take $80 in cash from the woman's purse as well as $50 in cash, a wristwatch and a cell phone from the male victim, Penn Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Mike Morrin said. During the attack -- possibly as she was knocked to the sidewalk -- the woman suffered a deep cut to the back of her head. She was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where the wound was closed using stitches and staples. She was released shortly afterward. The male victim was not seriously injured. After the victims were cleared medically, police interviewed both of them. Penn detectives have been in close contact recently with Philadelphia Police officials to investigate whether recent robberies near Penn could be connected to crimes elsewhere in the city. The Philadelphia Police Southwest Detective Division had three outstanding arrest warrants for Benjamin Walker, 20, of the 600 block of North 36th Street in West Philadelphia, that related to robberies outside University City. Penn detectives believed that Walker may have had a hand in robberies near Penn. They showed a photo lineup to the female victim in Friday's attack, and she positively identified Walker as one of the two attackers. Later Friday, Penn Police raided one location in search of Walker as Philadelphia Police searched another. Philadelphia officers located Walker and took him into custody. He is charged with four counts of robbery and related offenses. Morrin said that Penn Police have leads as to the identity of the second attacker in the Friday morning robbery. Police are reportedly also looking into whether Walker might have been one of the two men who punched and robbed a 25-year-old Drexel graduate student Wednesday evening as she exited her car on the 4000 block of Walnut Street. In addition to those for Walker, police have issued three other arrest warrants for suspects who they believe are responsible for recent robberies near campus.

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