Theft down, other summer crime steady

University Police had a relatively uneventful summer this year, as the number of major crimes remained unchanged from last year in most categories and the amount of thefts plummeted 31 percent. There were 375 reported thefts between June 1 and August 31, 1997, including 252 on-campus incidents. During the same period this year, however, there were only 142 reported on-campus thefts out of a total of 257, according to official figures. The drop included a 50 percent decrease in reported bicycle thefts. Car thefts also fell this year, dropping to 14 from the 18 reported to police last year. Additionally, an increasingly high percentage of robberies have resulted in arrests this summer, said Det. Commander Tom King. Police have made arrests in 10 of the 17 robberies that occurred during the second half of the summer. King said those numbers have a "two-pronged deterrent effect" on campus crime: First, the perpetrators themselves are arrested and thus taken off the streets; and second, the "word goes out that Penn is not such a great place to commit and get away with crime." King said SpectaGuard security officers aided patrol officers in several of the arrests. The number of burglaries and robberies reported to Penn Police was largely unchanged from last summer, though far fewer occurred on campus. One robbery led to violence on July 4, as a man in his late teens or early 20s stabbed a 46-year-old man in the abdomen during a robbery attempt on the 200 block of South 43rd Street. No arrests have been made in the incident. The victim, who is not affiliated with Penn, was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in good condition. In August, three men allegedly attempted a bizarre robbery of the brand-new Computer Connection store in Sansom Common near 36th and Sansom streets. The trio allegedly crashed a pick-up truck through the store's windows in the early-morning hours of August 6, then loaded "thousands of dollars" worth of electronics equipment into the vehicle, King said. When a police officer arrived at the scene, the three fled and were chased for a few blocks until the truck crashed into a tree at 33rd and Baring streets. Police arrested James Turner, 25, of the 2900 block of Patton Drive and Juan Johnson, 26, of the 3800 block of Baring Street, on charges of burglary and theft. A third suspect remains at large. In an attempt to escape arrest, one of the men threw some of the equipment at the police car during the brief chase, police said. There were no reported homicides and one reported rape this summer, compared to one murder and two rapes -- all off-campus -- last summer. The number of aggravated assaults, which include stabbings, gunshot wounds and serious beatings, jumped from seven last year to 13 this summer. King said there was no specific reason for the increase.