Arrest made in robberies on campus

A West Phila. resident will be charged with last week's armed robberies on Walnut Street and Baltimore Avenue. Thanks to an alert on-duty officer, University Police last weekend nabbed the man believed to be responsible for two recent knifepoint robberies involving Penn students. Luther Ricks, 35, of West Philadelphia, was apprehended on Saturday after allegedly striking twice more -- this time east of the Schuylkill River -- bringing his list of armed robberies to at least four. Ricks is believed responsible for the October 3 robbery outside of the Inn at Penn and the October 8 robbery on the 4000 block of Baltimore Avenue. While returning from a patrol loop near the 100 block of South 23rd Street, University Police Sgt. Peg O'Malley was approached by a woman claiming to have been robbed at knifepoint. Though the suspect fled immediately by car, both University and Philadelphia police officers received a call just minutes later regarding another robbery, near the corner of 27th and South streets, that matched the description of the previous one. Police responded and a car chase ensued until the suspect crashed his vehicle. He then fled on foot until police apprehended him in an alley. O'Malley arrived on the scene with the evening's first victim and positively identified the robber. Employing what University Police Det. Supervisor Bill Danks described as "good cooperation between officers and detectives," police were able to connect Ricks with the two early crimes near campus. On October 3, a female University student, who also works in the Sansom Common retail complex, was robbed at knifepoint outside the Inn at Penn. Just five days later, another female student was robbed in the front hallway of her residence on the 4000 block of Baltimore Avenue. Neither victim was hurt. Because of similarities between Ricks' appearance and the suspect descriptions previously given by the two Penn students, University Police detectives believed Ricks was the man for whom they were searching. Their hunch was confirmed on Tuesday, when both victims positively identified Ricks as their assailant, Danks said. Ricks is currently being held in the county prison system in Northeast Philadelphia. Thus far, he has only been charged with the two robberies from Saturday night, but he will also be charged with the two campus robberies at his preliminary court hearing next week, Danks said. Danks acknowledged that prior to Ricks' arrest, University Police detectives were not actively pursuing a suspect in the case, making Saturday's apprehension all the more significant. Danks was particularly praising of O'Malley's contribution. "As a result of the quick action taken by Sgt. O'Malley, the suspect was arrested," Danks said. "That's good police work." College junior Amy Strain, the victim of the Baltimore Avenue robbery, said the arrest helps quash some of the concerns she had after being held up in her own residence. "I didn't feel safe in my own house," she said. "He followed me onto my porch and I didn't even hear him. I was worried every time after when I walked on my porch." Nonetheless, Strain said the robbery did not really change her perception of the neighborhood and that thanks to the "absolutely wonderful" police officers she encountered, she fully intends to look past this incident. "It's not going to help me at all to be scared on the street," Strain said.

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