Students robbed under 38th Street footbridge

Statistics suggest that students should graduate without ever being a victim of crime. Yet College senior Crae Morton has been the victim of not just one, but two robberies. Last Thursday at about 10:30 p.m., Morton and Engineering sophomore Mike Worth were mugged under the 38th Street footbridge by two males who pretended they had weapons. "This is the second time I've been mugged here," Morton said. "I thought I was being safe, but you can't be too safe." Morton and Worth were on their way to the Kappa Alpha Society house when they were unexpectedly stopped. The assailants approached them with their hands in their pockets and threatened to kill them, Morton said. Although neither student ever saw a gun, Morton said they were not about to take any chances, and complied with the assailants' demands. "I never saw the gun, but I wasn't about to ask any questions," Worth said. "It was almost the attitude of 'Okay, you're mugging me, let's get it over with.' " Worth said he and Morton could see students walking over the bridge and people watching television in the Kappa Alpha house when they were robbed. Although the muggers stole about $500 worth of personal items from the students, Morton said the incident did not upset either of them. "You have to look at it in the grand scheme of things," Worth said. "I managed to walk into the house without a gunshot wound or a knife wound." University Police Sergeant Keith Christian said it is unusual for a crime of this sort to take place so close to the center of campus, and added that the students acted correctly by complying with the assailants. "You can always replace your money or your wallet," he said. "We always tell people to give [assailants] what they want." Morton and Worth said they are extremely pleased with University Police's reaction to the crime. University Police were on the scene within minutes of the crime to take a report, Morton said. And shortly after the report was taken, both students were taken in a police car to look for their assailants, he added. "The police were pretty much amazing in this," Worth said. "I couldn't ask for anything more than they did." Christian said University Police sometimes take complainants in patrol cars so they can identify the assailants and spread "flash information" about them. Both Morton and Worth said they do not feel unsafe on campus and consider this an unusual incident. "The only point of this story is it happened the time it did at the place it did," Morton said, "Other than that, I guess it's just another number in the book."