A number of violent crimes plagued the area around Penn's campus in the weeks before students returned for the fall semester.
Police are still looking for the man who robbed Cosi, located at 140 S. 36th St., at gunpoint on Aug. 9.
Two Cosi employees reported that a black man robbed the restaurant at about 7:45 a.m., Philadelphia Police Sgt. Charles Layton said.
The man entered Cosi and first went into the restroom, then returned to the restaurant and displayed a silver handgun, Layton said.
He demanded money from the restaurant's employees, taking $3,200 before leaving Cosi.
The man was wearing a blue jumpsuit with orange reflectors and weighed about 220 pounds.
While the Philadelphia Police obtained video surveillance of the robbery, Layton said no arrests have been made and there are no suspects at this time.
Penn's Division of Public Safety declined to comment on the robbery because the investigation - which is being handled by the Philadelphia Police - is ongoing.
In a separate incident, Stephen Esway, 33, of Canton, Ohio, was arrested on Aug. 19 for allegedly attempting to rob Computer Connection, located at 3610 Sansom St., at about 5:15 p.m., according to Penn and Philadelphia Police.
Police allege that Esway was concealing items while in the store. When he tried to leave with these items he was stopped by the security guard, then punched the guard.
The guard was not injured, and Esway has been charged with retail theft. He has been released from police custody.
Two assaults took place in the past few weeks as well.
On Aug. 11, Philadelphia Police responded to an incident on the 3600 block of Market Street.
Two 19-year-old women were arguing at about 5 p.m. and one woman punched the other woman in the face and stomach, then knocked her to the ground, Layton said.
The injured woman was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and received four stitches.
No arrests were made, though Layton said the injured woman has expressed interest in pursuing charges against the woman who punched her.
In an unrelated incident, Darrell Banks, 25, of the 2500 block of South Hobson Street was arrested for allegedly striking a Penn Police officer on the 4000 block of Locust Street on Aug. 16 at about 12:45 a.m., DPS spokeswoman Stef Cella said.
Banks allegedly hit the police officer with a closed fist and was arrested.
He has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and other related offenses.
He has been released after posting $5,000 bail.
Two acquaintance rapes also were reported near campus in the past several weeks - one on Aug. 10 on the 3500 block of Market Street and one on Aug. 12 on the 3900 block of Chestnut Street. Both Philadelphia Police and DPS declined to comment on these incidents.
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