U. employee assaulted near campus

A University employee was assaulted and robbed near campus yesterday morning by two men at 39th and Delancey streets, according to University Police Sergeant Keith Christian. The employee sustained facial injuries after being struck in the face by the assailant and had to be taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment, Christian said. The suspects were last seen fleeing west on Delancey Street at about 8:05 a.m., he added. Christian said the victim described one of the two suspect's as a "black male, six-foot-five, heavy build, wearing a blue sweat suit." The employee could not give a description of the second suspect, however. Wharton junior Michael Kohn, who lives on the 3900 block of Delancey Street, said the area is unsafe, adding that his car was broken into last year. "I know the street is really not that safe," he said. "It's really frightening." Kohn said that not many pedestrians walk in the area, especially during weekdays in the early morning hours. "It's a pretty dark street and there really aren't too many people on the block," he said. "It feels pretty isolated." Yesterday's incident was the second robbery of a University-affiliated person in less than 36 hours. In an unrelated incident, a student was robbed by three men Sunday night at 43rd and Spruce streets, according to University Police Sergeant Larry Salotti. The suspects in that incident took the student's wallet at about 11:40 p.m., Salotti said.