Robber armed with knife steals $200 from cleaners
At approximately 2:45 p.m. Thursday, a robber armed with a knife entered Jay's Dry Cleaners, located at 101 S. 40th St., and stole $200 from the cash register.
The 60-year-old female complainant said that the male entered the dry cleaners and gave her a name and phone number, in order to distract her while she looked for his items.
The suspect is described as a black male in his early 30s, between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-7 and weighing approximately 155 pounds. According to the police report, the suspect "grabbed her, put a knife to her throat and forced her to the back of the store."
The robber proceeded to wrap the complainant's hands and took the money from the store's cash register. He then fled the store.
The complainant freed herself in a short period of time and ran out of the store behind him, where she saw two males, both unaffiliated with the University, and asked them for their help in catching the robber.
Police said the two men chased the robber to 42nd Street, but lost him there.
The complainant sustained scratches and abrasions to her neck and wrist.
-- Jason Schwartz
Police to enforce bicycle violations with $50 fines
When classes resume after Thanksgiving break, Penn Police will once again start issuing $50 tickets to anyone caught riding a bicycle on Locust Walk, sidewalks or against the flow of traffic.
During the first few months of this semester, police had put a temporary moratorium on ticketing for bicycle violations in all but the most egregious situations.
"We thought that it was only fair to incoming freshmen and transfer students and people new to the area," Penn Police Lt. Tom Messner said, "to suspend enforcement at the beginning of September for re-education."
To date, police have simply been stopping offenders to inform them that they are in violation of the law and therefore instruct them to dismount their bikes.
However, Messner said that it is common for stopped bicyclists to get back on their bikes shortly after being stopped. Police have also been distributing information about bicycle safety.
Between September 2003 and October of this year, there were 21 bike accidents involving autos, five bike accidents involving pedestrians and one bike accident involving a trolley reported to police.
Messner went on to note that "two to three years ago we had a couple of bicycle fatalities," one caused by a bicyclist riding on a sidewalk being struck by a large truck and the other by a bicyclist being struck by a car going the wrong way in traffic.
Riding on the sidewalk and against traffic are two of the most dangerous practices for bikers, according to Messner, who said that the bike lanes painted on streets are not only the legal areas to ride bicycles, but the safest.
-- J.S.
