Few major crimes mar winter break

But the overall number of incidents reported to University Police increased slightly from the same period last year. Nine robberies, 32 thefts and one aggravated assault weren't quite the holiday gifts for which officers in the Division of Public Safety asked this holiday season. But there was no single critical incident this year as there was during last year's winter break, when a Northwest Philadelphia man was shot to death on the 3400 block of Civic Center Boulevard on New Year's Eve. During the 22-day period between December 19, 1998 and January 9, 1999, 73 criminal incidents were reported to University Police, up slightly from last year. The number of robberies more than doubled from last year's four, while thefts rose by three. Assaults, though, dropped from three last year to just one. Despite the small increase during this year's break, crime has generally been down on and around campus over the past year. In fiscal year 1997, which ended June 30, 1998, robberies plunged 37 percent from the previous year. Thefts, meanwhile, fell 14 percent. Aggravated assaults rose 12 percent over the same period. In the lone report of aggravated assault during vacation, a University Police officer was struck by a taxi on December 23 while the officer was writing parking tickets in the taxi cab lane outside the Quadrangle, according to University Police. The driver, Ferdinand Timothy, 55, was immediately arrested. The officer was not seriously injured. Of the nine robberies reported to police, five were performed at gunpoint. On December 26, a man not affiliated with the University was carjacked near the corner of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue. The two assailants forced their way into the 1991 silver-colored Infiniti and handcuffed the victim in the backseat, according to police. They drove to North Philadelphia and dropped him off. The next day, two brothers under the age of 18, both unaffiliated with the University, reported that a group of men punched them in the face and stole a bicycle. Earlier that day, a male student and two men unaffiliated with the University reported being robbed at gunpoint by two men with semi-automatic hand guns on the 4200 block of Pine Street at 12:45 a.m. It was not clear last night what was taken. There were also five burglaries reported to police during the 22-day period. About $3,200 worth of belongings were missing from a house on the 200 block of South 41st Street. Six University students live in the residence. In another burglary, a male University employee reported that sometime between December 23 and December 29, someone stole $800 worth of office supplies from a room in the David Rittenhouse Laboratory. The thieves apparently also broke into two other offices, but nothing was found missing. And yesterday, a female University student reported that $1,500 worth of belongings was stolen from her locked apartment in Harnwell House -- formerly High Rise East -- between the time she left campus on December 22 and when she returned yesterday. There was no sign of forced entry. The missing items included a stereo, speakers and a CD player.