Penn and Philadelphia Police officers worked together to make four arrests in connection with two related assaults -- one of which involved a robbery -- that occurred early Monday evening to the west of campus.
At about 7:40 p.m., local residents approached patrol officers at the intersection of 43rd and Pine streets and told them that a group of men was attacking another man nearby at the intersection of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue.
When police arrived at the scene, they found only the victim, a 24-year-old Penn graduate student whom a group of assailants had assaulted. The victim gave rough descriptions of his attackers to officers, who then sent out a "flash report," broadcasting those descriptions to other police in the area.
Shortly thereafter, police were again alerted by local residents to a robbery in progress on the 4600 block of Springfield Avenue.
A man -- who is not affiliated with Penn -- was reportedly walking westbound on Springfield Avenue from 46th Street when he was approached by a group of men who began to yell at him, then started to beat him and proceeded to take a small sum of cash as well as a debit card.
The attack was interrupted by a local resident -- a Penn employee -- who intervened to try to halt the robbery.
This man was also beaten by the assailants.
Suspect descriptions in this attack matched those for the earlier assault.
Philadelphia and Penn Police converged on the area in a search for the attackers.
In a matter of minutes, a group of men matching the descriptions was spotted on the 4300 block of Baltimore Avenue. The suspects fled in different directions, and foot pursuits ensued.
Philadelphia officers caught one suspect at 4400 Baltimore Ave., while Penn officers captured three others near 4300 Baltimore Ave.
Arrested were three juveniles -- one 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds -- and one adult, 18-year-old Charles Patterson of the 500 block of South 60th Street.
All of those arrested reportedly reside in West Philadelphia.
Victims positively identified all four of the suspects, who were taken to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detective Division for processing.
The suspects were charged with robbery and multiple counts of simple and aggravated assault, among other charges.
Based on the victims' accounts, police believe that up to four more people may have been part of the group of attackers. Detectives are working to locate the remaining assailants.
None of the victims was injured seriously enough to require hospitalization.
