Police are still investigating a robbery on a student near 40th and Locust streets Saturday afternoon. A UPennAlert was issued in response at 3:45 p.m.
A male student was robbed with what appeared to be a gun. The suspect is a six-foot-tall male with a dark complexion and was wearing a puffy vest, according to Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush. He allegedly approached the student victim, demanded his phone and ran off with it. No arrests have been made yet.
The student had called the Philadelphia Police Department’s 911 line, which was picked up by the Division of Public Safety’s PennComm Operations Center. Penn Police were dispatched immediately and arrived on scene.
In the ongoing investigation, DPS is interviewing the victim, going through CCTV footage of the area and interviewing witnesses. Rush said she has brought in extra detectives to see to the case.
DPS detectives are also conferring with PPD detectives to find similar patterns or potentially related incidents throughout the city.
“It’s an unusual circumstance, given the time of day and that there were a lot of people roaming around,” Rush said. “We don’t have that many daytime issues.”
The all-clear signal was given at 4:26 p.m. on Saturday.
On Nov. 19, there was another robbery of a student at 41st and Pine streets that triggered a UPennAlert.
“We’re getting to the December holiday season, so we have to be a bit more cautious,” Rush said. “During holiday seasons, there are more people looking for opportunities, especially for electronics.”
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