Student robbed at gunpoint at 40th and Spruce

At around 10 p.m. on Sunday, College junior Peter Washkowitz was approached outside the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house by an unidentified man carrying a small black handgun. Washkowitz said the assailant grabbed him by the neck and pointed the gun at his stomach, demanding he hand over his belongings. "He said 'I don't want to kill you, but give me the money,'" Washkowitz said yesterday. The assailant took $100 in cash, several credit cards and a cellular phone. Washkowitz said the suspect carried on a conversation with him during the robbery. "He told me, 'I'm not violent. I need the money for my kids. You Penn students are brats and you don't need the money,'" Washkowitz said. After he handed over the items, Washkowitz said, his attacker attempted to drag him to his vehicle. But Washkowitz said he passed two Penn students almost immediately and was able to break free from the suspect with their help. Washkowitz was not injured during the robbery. The suspect fled east on Spruce Street. According to police, the suspect was described as a black male in his 30s, between 5'8" and 5'10", weighing between 160 and 180 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans, a white sweatshirt and a blue baseball hat. Washkowitz was transported to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives Bureau at 55th and Pine streets for questioning. He said he examined dozens of suspect photographs but was unable to find a match. Although the crime occurred at an early hour near a typically busy intersection, nobody saw the incident, Washkowitz said. He explained that the robbery caught him completely off guard, even on a slow Sunday night. "You know, you hear about these things, but I never thought it would happen," Washkowitz said. The University Police and PPD are conducting a joint investigation. -- Rod Kurtz