Drexel student attack caught on videotape
Four University City High School students were arrested after police say they assaulted a Drexel graduate student and pushed him into oncoming traffic on Friday.
The victim, 30, was transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was treated for a dislocated jaw and lacerations to his lip.
The suspected attackers -- ages 18, 17, 17 and 16 -- were charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and several other offenses.
The "very disturbing" scene was caught on videotape in its entirety, Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker said.
At about 1:10 p.m. on Friday, the four men were filming themselves rapping when one of them started to boast about past assaults he had committed.
He started to show his companions the motions he had used during the assaults when they decided to pick someone out on the street to attack, Walker said.
The group saw the 30-year-old student walking on 36th Street near Spring Garden Street.
The teen who had been boasting walked over to the student and struck him in the face with a closed fist, knocking him against a wall, Walker said.
A second member of the group then punched the victim repeatedly in the stomach and head.
The student pleaded for them to stop before the second assailant pushed him into oncoming traffic on 36th Street. He was not hit by any vehicles.
An immigrant from Haiti, the student is "concerned about his safety in the community," Walker said, and he is considering leaving Philadelphia.
Three of the four suspects were apprehended shortly after the incident.
Tyrez Osbourne, 18, is still in custody. One of the other accused youths is being held at the Youth Study Center, and a third is under house arrest, Walker said.
A fourth suspect, 17, was arrested at school yesterday.
-- Jared Miller
Fire in Med building
A fire raged in the Johnson Pavilion Medical School building last night, setting off the sprinkler system and causing the building to be evacuated.
No injuries were reported.
The fire, which started at about 7:30 p.m., was confined to the Rubin Chemistry Lab on the fifth floor of the building, according to Philadelphia Fire Department Battalion 11 Chief George Griffin.
An unattended chemical process got out of control and set nearby materials on fire, Griffin said.
No one was in the room at the time, and the sprinkler system was able to mostly contain the fire.
The flames appeared to have done little damage to the room beyond scorching eight ceiling tiles and part of a wall panel, according to Griffin.
However, water damage from the sprinkler system affected the fifth floor and some parts of the fourth floor.
The evacuation of the building, which is located immediately south of the Quadrangle, displaced a number of medical students who were working or studying in the building at the time.
The fire department responded to the alarm with four engines, four ladders, two batallion chiefs and a medic unit.
The building should be reopened today for classes.
-- Jeremy Baron
