University Police have detained one man in connection with an assault that occurred Sunday night.
A single male student was attacked by a teenager at approximately 10:42 p.m. near 40th and Spruce streets, according to police reports.
Two students were walking along Spruce Street when they encountered a group of several teenagers.
"Two males ... walked past a group of five [male] teenagers," Chief of University Police Tom Rambo said. "One of the teenagers asked if they had a cigarette, the [student] said he didn't have one."
The students were about to cross the road when the assault occurred.
No weapons were used, and the student did not sustain any injuries.
"One of the teens grabbed one of the" students, Rambo said. "He pushed him on the chest and punched [him] in the face."
The teenagers fled the scene but had been observed on University Police surveillance cameras. As a result, the UPPD quickly dispatched officers to catch the suspects.
"The group of teenagers ran on 40th towards Walnut [Street] ... and were apprehended on 40th and Walnut by Penn Police officers," Rambo said.
In an article yesterday in The Daily Pennsylvanian, Philadelphia private police officer Shaun Miller said that he had witnessed the entire incident and pursued the suspects until they were apprehended by the University Police. Rambo was unable to comment on Miller's actions.
Miller told the DP that the two students had been mugged, but Rambo said that since nothing was taken, it was classified as an assault.
Two of the suspects were juveniles, and the other three were adults. While all five were arrested, only one was charged with assault, while the others were investigated and released early yesterday morning.
Sunday's incident was the second time in less than a week that a student has been assaulted close to campus.
On Jan. 26, two unidentified men robbed a male student on the 4200 block of Pine Street at around 10:16 p.m., according to University Police officials. The males, reported to be in their early to mid-20s, struck the student twice on the head and took $30.
University Police could not comment on whether the cases are related.
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