Several students were robbed at gunpoint early Friday morning by the same men in two separate incidents.
The robberies occurred before the official beginning of Spring Fling weekend on the 4000 block of Irving Street at approximately 1:15 a.m. No one was injured in either case. In both incidents, two men, one of whom was armed with a small handgun, approached small groups of individuals and demanded their valuables.
In the first incident, the victims were two males -- a student and his friend.
"They were approached by two individuals," Deputy Chief of Investigations Bill Danks said. One was "holding a small silver-colored handgun and demanded money." They took $20 from the two males.
The armed suspect was described as a black male approximately 6 feet to 6-foot-1 with a slender build. He was in his late teens to early 20s and wearing a blue and black-colored jacket. He had a white cast on his left arm.
The second individual was described as a black male in his late teens, slightly shorter than the first, and wearing red shorts and a dark-colored jacket.
The individuals then proceeded toward 41st Street, where they encountered a second pair of students, a male and a female. The armed man again held them up at gunpoint.
"They took a wallet and contents, and a digital camera," Danks said. They also took a cell phone from the female.
The suspects then entered what was described as a mid-1990s brown-colored sedan and fled northbound on 41st Street.
The students did not call the police until they reached their homes, so officers were unable to pursue and apprehend the suspects. The University of Pennsylvania Police Department continued to investigate the incidents, however, and it is hopeful that it will catch the suspects.
The Detective Department "is working on leads and expects to make an arrest in the near future," Chief of Police Tom Rambo said.
Besides the successive robberies, Spring Fling weekend reported few other crimes. A group of students was arrested for underage drinking, and there were some cases of disorderly conduct, but there were no other robberies or significant assaults.
The UPPD had been busy in its preparations for Fling and was aware of the potential for crime with the good weather, large numbers of people and high levels of drunkenness, officials said.
Danks said that the heavy police presence throughout the weekend proved discouraging to possible criminals.
"That area around 40th Street, Irving and Pine, there were police on every corner," Danks said.
