Robbery may be tied to several others
Penn Police believe another attempted robbery on the 3100 block of Walnut Street Tuesday night may have been the work of a man who robbed several University students in separate incidents last month. In Tuesday's incident, a male University student reported that a man approached him at 9 p.m. as he was walking east on Walnut Street. The man demanded money, but the student pushed him and ran away. The man was described as African American, about 30 years old and 5'10" tall and between 140 and 160 pounds, with a small face and a pointed chin. He was wearing a long black coat at the time of the incident. "We're looking strongly into the attempted robbery as being linked to some of the robberies we had earlier this month," Deputy Chief of Investigations Thomas King said yesterday. "The descriptions are similar and there's a similarity in the way the jobs went down." Earlier Tuesday night, a male University student was robbed on the 100 block of South 45th Street. The student was walking when he was approached by two men, one of whom said he had a gun. It is unclear whether the man was actually armed. The student handed over his backpack -- which contained his wallet with $15 in cash -- and his watch. The total value of the items taken is unknown. The two men were described as African-American males in their late teens or early 20s. Both were wearing dark clothing at the time of the incident. Police do not believe this robbery is connected to the other recent incidents.
-- Caryn Tamber
SEPTA experiences delays with trolleys
It's a good thing SEPTA's "We're getting there" slogan doesn't specify when. For two hours yesterday, nearly 20 green-line trolley cars were backed up due to a broken-down car in the tunnel underneath Center City. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. last night, a route 34 car heading westbound was disabled due to "equipment problems" between stops at 33rd Street and 36th Street, according to SEPTA spokesman James Whitaker. "It happened after rush hour, but quite a few passengers were affected," Whitaker said. Those westbound cars still in the tunnel were stopped for nearly an hour and were diverted up Lancaster Avenue. Vern Simon, a 70-year-old Philadelphia resident who was a passenger on a route 11 car, had a superstitious outlook on the occurrence that kept him waiting for the better part of the evening. "I knew something was going to happen," Simon said. "This is the first time I've gone to [the 13th Street stop] and walked right up to the [car]." -- Joshua Runyan and Tamar Kantor
