CAMPUS BRIEFS: Thursday, February 5, 1998

Teenagers arrested for robbery of taxi driver The incident began at about 3:10 a.m., when Willie Dukes, 54, entered his apartment at 4107 Baltimore Avenue to find the three girls in his hallway armed with a knife, a crowbar and a pair of scissors, Dukes said. He said he believed the teenagers were under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Police said the girls were 16 and 17 years old. Dukes quickly fled from the house and drove west in his taxi to 42nd Street, where he alerted Eddie Dasher, an off-duty security guard who was making a phone call at the intersection, according to an eyewitness who requested anonymity. At about the same time, the girls went to a MAC machine on the 4000 block of Locust Street, where they allegedly robbed a 30-year old woman of her purse and forced her to withdraw $200 in cash. The woman was not affiliated with the University. The girls fled west on Locust to 41st Street, then south toward Pine Street. Dasher, who had chased the suspects with Dukes to the intersection of 42nd and Pine streets, then informed University Police Sgt. Lynn Harrison and Officer Joanne Ketler that the suspects had escaped behind a house at 4114 Pine Street, the eyewitness said. Police arrested the suspects at about 3:30 a.m. and drove them to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives bureau at 55th and Pine streets for questioning. The three were charged with armed robbery and will be tried as adults, police said. University Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said yesterday that Harrison and Ketler will receive official commendations for their roles in the arrest. -- Christopher Anderson and Maureen Tkacik Police near arrests in student's robbery Philadelphia Police are close to arresting two suspects who allegedly robbed a College freshman in November, police said yesterday. Kevin Manning told police the two men kidnapped him at the intersection of 41st and Spruce streets early on the morning of November 16 and forced him to withdraw $80 in cash from area MAC machines, according officials from the Philadelphia Police Department. The assailants let him off near 52nd and Market streets, the police said the student told them. He said he then took a taxi back to the Quadrangle at 37th and Spruce streets. The Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives bureau said it has a warrant pending for the suspects. The student was only able to provide vague information on the crime, police said at the time. He was not able to describe his assailants and could not even remember his personal identification number at the first area MAC machine to which the men allegedly drove him. -- Maureen Tkacik Specter to announce reelection bid at Penn U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., will return to his alma mater tomorrow morning to announce his bid for reelection. Specter, a 1951 University graduate, will stress education issues in his announcement, scheduled for 9 a.m. in front of College Hall, according to campaign manager Kent Gates. If reelected in November, the 67-year-old Specter would be the first senator from Pennsylvania to serve a fourth 6-year term. Specter, a native of Russell, Kan., was first elected in 1980. In his last election, he squeaked by Democrat Lynn Yeakel by a 2 percent margin. He is expected to sail through the primary election in May by a large margin. The fiscally conservative Republican is pro-choice, separating him from many in his party who are anti-abortion. He is also chairperson of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. Specter ran for the 1996 GOP presidential nomination, but dropped out of the race before the primaries, citing fund-raising problems. A former Philadelphia district attorney, Specter was appointed to the staff of the 1964 Warren Commission charged with investigating the assassination of President John Kennedy. The University will serve as the first site in his nine-stop tour around the state announcing his decision to run again for the Senate seat. -- Lindsay Faber