Beating not as serious as originally believed

A University spokesperson said yesterday that the couple beaten in an off-campus robbery Sunday night were not as seriously injured as police originally believed, and the address was also reported incorrectly. University spokesperson Joanna Vogel said yesterday that -- contrary to what police reported Sunday night -- only one of the victims, the husband, was hospitalized. The man, a graduate student, remained in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania last night. University Police reported Sunday night that both victims were University students and that both victims were in HUP Monday afternoon, one in the intensive care unit. The incorrect information was taken by a police spokesperson apparently from the initial crime report, which was written by an officer who saw the student at HUP, according to University Police. University Police reports are considered confidential, and the report was not available to the DP for verification. The female victim, who is not a student, received only minor injuries, Vogel said. She was treated at Student Health Sunday night and released. According to University Police, two men armed with a gun forced their way into the couple's apartment just after 10 p.m. Sunday night. The men robbed the couple of $30, a $200 watch and a cassette recorder. After robbing them, the men beat them over the head, police said. How the men entered the apartment is unclear. Accounts from a friend of the couple and police reports differ on the sequence of events. Police said Monday the two robbers accosted both victims outside their apartment, held them at gunpoint and then entered the house. But Associate Sociology Professor Susan Watkins, a friend of the couple, said she believes only the woman was approached on the street. The robbers held her at gunpoint to force their way into the house, Watkins said. The male victim, reached at his HUP hospital room last night, declined to comment on the incident.

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