Police arrest South, Walnut St. bridge suspect

The Philadelphia Police have arrested the person whom they and Penn Police believe is responsible for a string of robberies on the Center City side of the South and Walnut street bridges.

Marcus Teague, who has been convicted of numerous counts of thefts and robbery, was charged for seven different robberies on Nov. 17, after he was arrested on Nov. 3 for an eighth robbery he allegedly committed on the 1500 block of Morris Street. All charges which Teague currently faces occurred between Oct. 25 and Nov. 3.

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Penn Police helped the Philadelphia Police identify Teague as the possible perpetrator of the bridge robberies.

Two of the robberies with which he was charged occurred on the Center City side of the South Street bridge, and a third occurred just over the Walnut Street bridge. The victims in two of those robberies were Penn affiliates — one, a Hospital of University of Pennsylvania nurse; the other, a Penn Law School student.

On Nov. 4, the Division of Public Safety sent a University-wide email about the male suspect in the three bridge robberies as an advisory to the Penn community.

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“The way we were able to break this case was by tracking a cell phone that was taken in one of the robberies,” DPS Deputy Chief of Investigations Michael Morris said.

Morris and Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said that it was phone tracking technology — similar to that in apps that can be downloaded onto a smartphone — that allowed DPS to track Teague after the robberies.

Both Rush and Morris encouraged Penn students and staff to download free apps like these onto their phone.

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“If you are a victim … if you have this app on there, it enhances our ability to get your phone back,” Rush said.

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