Pair hold up Book Store at gunpoint

Two men tried to hold up the University Book Store at gunpoint early yesterday morning, but when the store's director refused to open its safe, the men kicked him in the face and fled onto Locust Walk without any loot. Book Store Director Michael Knezic was opening the store around 5:25 a.m. when a man approached him from behind with a silver semi-automatic gun, according to University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich. The man gun forced him into the store while a second suspect approached and told him to open the store's locked safe, Kuprevich said. When Knezic said he did not know the combination, the men forced Knezic to lay down on the ground in the parking lot behind the store, according to University Police Sergeant Lawrence Salotti. Kuprevich said some words were exchanged, But when Knezic looked, the suspects kicked him in the face, breaking his nose. Both suspects fled on foot and nothing was taken, according to Kuprevich, who said the two suspects were last seen heading south toward Locust Walk. The police commissioner said that when Knezic was attacked, an alarm was set off in the store, and police arrived on the scene minutes after the alarm sounded. He added, however, that neither suspect has been apprehended. According to Kuprevich, University Police now have a composite sketch of one of the two suspects and are investigating the incident. The armed suspect was six feet tall and wore blue coveralls. The second suspect was also six feet tall, had a thin build, and had a yellow blanket wrapped around his body. University Police recovered a blue ski mask and a white jacket from a vehicle parked on 37th Street between Chestnut and Walnut streets, according to Salotti. William Petrick, an assistant director at the Book Store, said last night that this is the first incident in the 45 years he has worked for the store. Petrick, who said he has "never felt threatened," added that he is more concerned for "others who have managerial duties such as opening and closing the store." Petrick, who closed the store last night, said he was not afraid because he was being escorted out of the store by a University Police officer. "All retail stores have the possibility of having something stolen," Petrick said. "Every precaution will be taken." University Police said yesterday security will be beefed up around the Book Store and that Book Store employees will be able to call for police escort when entering and leaving the building each day. "We have assigned an officer to be at or in the store when the store is secured for the night," Salotti said yesterday. And Kuprevich said that the department will conduct a security review of other buildings on campus with safes and other valuables where people are entering or leaving at non-business hours.