Third robbery seems linked to two others

The robbery of a female student Monday evening is probably linked to two other student robberies that took place on-campus Sunday, Penn Det. Supervisor William Danks said yesterday. The descriptions of the suspects in the three crimes is almost identical, and Monday's robbery occurred in the same area as did one of Sunday's. In Monday's robbery, a female University student reported that a man demanded her bag while she was walking on the 3700 block of Hamilton Walk at about 7:20 p.m. The student screamed and the man started to run away, but when no one responded to her scream, he returned and pushed her to the ground. He then grabbed her bag and fled. She did not sustain any injuries. The bag contained a checkbook and a laptop computer, both of unknown value. The student described the suspect as a black man, about 5'8" or 5'9" tall, with a dark complexion and a medium build. At the time of the incident, he was wearing all black clothing with a black hooded sweatshirt. In Sunday's first robbery, a female University student reported that she was walking on the 3400 block of Walnut Street at 1:30 a.m. A man approached her and asked for money. When she refused, the man grabbed her purse, removed her wallet, took $60 in cash and returned the wallet. In the second incident, a female University student reported that she was walking on the 3600 block of Hamilton Walk at about 6:10 p.m. A man approached her and asked for money. When she refused, the man pulled her backpack off her shoulder and fled. Danks was optimistic about the possibility of catching the man responsible for the three robberies. "We've been doing a lot of investigating today and we think we have some pretty good leads," he said. -- Caryn Tamber