Daylight assault leads to arrest

A Law School student was injured when a man struck and robbed him. A man used a plastic rod to pummel a University Law School student's face during an attempt to steal his wristwatch yesterday afternoon in a parking lot near 36th and Walnut streets, police said. One officer was patrolling the area and arrived on the scene within minutes, before the alleged assailant had a chance to flea the area, said Penn Police Det. Commander Tom King. Officers arrested the alleged assailant, 43-year-old William Guranious, within a block of the lot. Guranious was taken to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives bureau at 55th and Pine streets and charged with aggravated assault and robbery, according to University Police. PPD detectives were unavailable for comment yesterday. After he identified the suspect, the third-year Law student was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and treated for facial lacerations. He was not admitted to the hospital and returned home. According to the police report, at about 1 p.m., Guranious hit the student in the face with the rod several times during an attempt to steal his watch. The watch was found on the ground of the Franklin Building parking lot. King called the incident "bizarre" since it occurred in broad daylight in a very visible area of campus. He also praised the officers, Robert Delaurentiis and Ted Farrell, for making an arrest so quickly. He said incidents like this "send a message that [Penn] isn't a friendly environment" to commit crimes. In a separate incident, construction workers at the nearby Sansom Common site discovered that more than $10,000 worth of tools were stolen from a secured tool shed sometime over the weekend. The hinges on the shed's door, located on the second floor of the part of the complex still under construction, were removed, University Police said. Officials at Turner Construction Co., the contractor that the University hired to build Sansom Common on Walnut Street between 36th and 37th streets, were unavailable for comment yesterday afternoon. University Police are investigating the burglary.

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