Few crimes during Relays

A heightened Philadelphia and Penn Police presence led to a low crime count, officials said. More than 96,350 people visited University City for the Penn Relays last weekend, setting an all-time record for the event's attendance while maintaining significantly low levels of crime for the second consecutive year. Over the Thursday-to-Sunday period, there was one armed robbery, one simple assault, one auto theft, nine thefts, two incidents of disorderly conduct and one case of public indecency, according to University Police Chief Maureen Rush and the official police log book. In continuing with the trend of decreasing crime over Relays weekend during the past two years, Rush said that of the weekend's incidents, only two thefts were directly related to the 105th annual event, the largest track-and-field competition in the world. With nearly 100,000 additional people coming to campus, authorities were prepared for the worst. Last year, the three-day weekend saw 10 thefts, a burglary and a simple assault. By contrast, in 1997 there were five robberies, a carjacking outside of Franklin Field and a riot at the Wawa at 38th and Spruce streets. And in 1994, an unrelated shooting and a stabbing marred Relays weekend. Rush attributed the low amount of Penn Relays-weekend crime this year to the large police presence on campus. The Philadelphia Police and University Police worked together throughout the weekend to keep crime and litter at a minimum. More people in the area "certainly increases the likelihood that you'll have more incidents of crime," Rush said, adding that even just minimizing traffic jams so "people are not getting on each other's nerves as they're driving around in the same circle" cuts down on the possibility of problems. "You don't take for granted that every year is going to be that good but you keep trying to make it as good," Rush said. Both of the Relays-related thefts occurred in Franklin Field on Saturday. A woman unaffiliated with the University reported that someone removed a camcorder and camcorder case from under her seat in the stadium's bleachers between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. The value of the items was not known. In the same time period, a man unaffiliated with the University reported that as he was waiting in line in one of the stadium's men's bathrooms, someone removed his wallet, containing $160 and assorted credit cards, from his person. The following day at 1:30 a.m., a male University student reported that two men punched him while he was attending a party in a residence on the 300 block of South 41st Street. The student suffered no injuries, police said. Continuing the incidents of non-related crime, an employee of the 7-Eleven at 4201 Walnut Street reported that last Thursday at about 3 a.m., a 5'8" African-American male, 25 to 30 years of age and weighing about 200 pounds, entered the store and took out a gun. After taking $200 in cash, the suspect fled the scene. Two days after the armed robbery, a woman unaffiliated with the University reported that someone stole her gray BMW from where it was parked on the 3700 block of Sansom Street between 1:30 p.m. and 6:20 p.m on Saturday. There were at least nine thefts over the weekend, including an incident in which a male University student's $200 bicycle was stolen on Friday from where it was secured on the 300 block of South 36th Street at about 11 p.m. Also during the weekend, a female University employee reported that she observed a 5'7" man with dark curly hair and a goatee masturbating in a University parking lot at 3201 Walnut Street. Police also cited two unaffiliated men on Saturday at about noon for disorderly conduct after observing them scalping Penn Relays tickets on the 3400 block of Chestnut Street.