The amount of campus crime during this Winter Break was consistent with that in years past, with no significant incidents reported at Penn during the abbreviated vacation.
"We always come up with some stuff during the holidays," Detective Supervisor Frank DeMeo said, "But there hasn't really been anything outrageous this year. By past standards it was a fairly quiet break."
Although Penn experienced little crime, the surrounding community was less fortunate as the Philadelphia police responded Friday evening to a murder-suicide on the 400 block of South 48th street, only a few blocks from student residences.
According to the Philadelphia Police Department, 63-year-old Charlotte Burton of West Philadelphia was reportedly stabbed several times, and then shot by her partner, 68-year-old William Jennings, at 8:28 p.m. on Jan. 4.
After killing Burton, Jennings allegedly shot himself. The two bodies were discovered by police officers several hours later.
Closer to Penn, a string of petty campus crime began early in the break when three temporary facilities employees -- one of whom was a Penn student --were detained on Dec.23 after allegedly taking a television and a VCR out of one of the Quadrangle's common areas.
The three were hired earlier in the semester to perform temporary holiday work inside the dormitory located at 3700 Spruce Street.
A 21-year-old black male was apprehended by Penn police at 1 a.m., Dec. 30, when he reportedly tripped the burglar alarm in the Sweeten Alumni Center at 3533 Locust Walk. The man was unable to do any damage to the building or flee before police arrived on the scene and apprehended him.
A 22-year-old Temple student, who lives near the Penn campus, was reportedly robbed last Thursday on the 4200 block of Locust Street by two individuals, brandishing a silver gun.
The Temple student, who's wallet was stolen during the attack, reported the incident to a nearby police patrol wagon.
The two defendants were found and apprehended several blocks away, on St. Marks Street.
A police search of the two men discovered that the silver gun used to intimidate the victim was actually a metal toy, but one of the defendants was carrying a large knife that he reportedly did not produce during the attack.
A retail theft at Wawa on Dec. 30 turned into a robbery after an individual allegedly stole various items totaling about $23, then proceeded to knock over one of the store employees who tried to stop him.
Several student residences were reportedly broken into during the break, and police officials are certain that more will be discovered once everyone has returned to campus.
There were two reported burglaries in separate apartments at 4044 Walnut Street. One apartment showed no signs of forced entry, though a laptop computer and a palm pilot were taken from the residence.
In the other apartment in the same building, the front door was reportedly kicked in, but only $10 left on a table by its occupants was taken by the intruder.
