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(11/04/91 10:00am)
A man who is not affiliated with the University was assaulted and robbed by four or five males on the 38th Street footbridge during the early morning hours Saturday, according to University Police. The man, who refused medical treatment, was robbed of a jacket, $120 cash and a radio. The victim said that one of the attackers was light complected, about six-feet, one-inch tall and weighed about 150 pounds. He was last seen wearing a tan jacket and grey pants. The assault was one of four strongarm robberies and several burglaries that occurred on or near campus over the weekend, according to University Sergeant Lawrence Salotti. In an unrelated incident, a female University student was robbed by two men at the subway stop at 36th and Sansom streets at 6:14 p.m. Saturday, Salotti said. The woman, who was waiting on the west bound side of the subway tracks, was approached by two men from behind who demanded her knapsack. When she told the attackers that she only had clothes in her knapsack, they took $24 cash from her, Salotti said. Both suspects were about five-feet, 11 inches tall, and one suspect wore a black jacket, Salotti said. In an separate incident, a male University student was robbed as he was walking towards his residence near the corner of 33rd and Market streets at 11:30 p.m Saturday. The attacker jumped out of a car, hit the student in the face, and knocked him down, Salotti said. The attacker then robbed the student of $30 cash and jumped back into the car and fled, Salotti said. A second male suspect drove the car. Police have not apprehended the attackers. In the fourth incident, a female area resident was robbed in the McDonalds restaurant on the corner of 40th and Walnut streets at 7:30 p.m. Friday, according to police. The woman, who was waiting in line to pay, was pushed from behind by a man, who then grabbed $5 she was holding in her hand. The man, who fled the scene, was in his 20s, five-feet, 11 inches tall, weighed 150 pounds and had a medium complexion. The suspect was last seen wearing a brown leather jacket and jeans, Salotti said. Police also responded to several other incidents over the weekend: · A student's 1986 Honda car was stolen on 33rd Street near Smith Walk at about 7 p.m. Saturday. · University Police detained and released one man in a fight on 39th Street between Chestnut and Walnut streets at 1:42 a.m yesterday. The man was apprehended for striking another man, but the complainant could not identify the suspect, and he was released. · A Theta Xi brother observed a man leaving his fraternity's 3643 Locust Walk house at 10:30 p.m. Friday carrying a bicycle. University Police arrested the man on the west side of the 38th Street footbridge. · An unknown man attempted to burglarize a house on the 4200 block of Walnut Street at about 3 p.m. Saturday. The doors to the house were tampered with, but entry was not made.
(11/01/91 10:00am)
A University Student was robbed at gunpoint inside the Galaxy II Arcade on the 3900 block of Walnut Street Wednesday night, according to University Police Sergeant Michael Fink. The student told police he was approached by two males, one of whom had a gun, at around 9 p.m. and was forced to turn over $15 cash. The two suspects, both of whom were about six-feet tall, fled the scene, according to Fink. The gunman wore a long black leather trenchcoat, but there was no description for the second man. In a second robbery Wednesday, a complainant was robbed at gunpoint of his Murray mountain bike on 43rd Street between Walnut and Spruce Streets by two males at about 8:15 p.m., according to Fink. Both males were around 16 years old. One suspect wore dark clothing and was five feet, six inches tall while the other was five feet, eight inches tall and wore a red hat or red jacket, Fink said. University Police also responded to a report of a broken window at the Baskin Robbins store on the 3900 block of Walnut Street yesterday at 4:17 p.m., Fink said. One vagrant, who was wrestling with another vagrant, fell through the window and was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, but refused treatment for a cut on his nose. No one was arrested in the incident, Fink said. In a separate incident, two plainclothes University Police officers observed a drug transaction on the 3800 block of Sansom Street Wednesday night and arrested an area resident for possession of marijuana, Fink said. The man was taken to Philadelphia's West Detectives Division for processing. University Police also responded to a report of disorderly conduct at 3:30 a.m. yesterday on the 3400 block of Walnut street, Fink said. Three men were stopped and taken into University Police department headquarters, but only one was arrested and cited for disorderly conduct.
(10/31/91 10:00am)
University Museum officials rejoiced yesterday at the return of its stolen Empress Dowager crystal ball and 2000-year-old Egyptian statue, but according to one museum official, it would be almost as easy to steal an artifact from the museum today as it was three years ago. The museum official, who requested anonymity, said the museum improved security for several of its more important collections, but other areas of the museum still have security problems. He said yesterday that security is particularly weak in the Chinese Rotunda, where the crystal ball was originally displayed. With the exception of electronically-locked glass doors at the opening of the third floor rotunda, there is virtually no meaningful security in the area. But University Museum Director Robert Dyson defended the museum's security system, saying that the charges of lax security came from a disgruntled employee. "To say security is the same today as it was then is absolutely incorrect," Dyson said. "I think the museum has made great strides in developing security." Dyson said that because thousands of people pass through the museum in a year, it is difficult to maintain air-tight security. "It is particularly hard [to maintain security] with an institution like this," Dyson said. "The alternative is to seal up the collections." Dyson said he would not respond to specific charges of weak security, explaining that divulging information about particular systems would further jeopardize the museum's collections. But the official pointed out several specific areas where he believed security was lax. He said the one camera on the east side of the rotunda is "a dummy camera," meant simply to deter thefts, and that it does not record events in the rotunda. The official said some rooms were equipped with advanced security after the thefts in 1988 of the crystal ball, the statuette of the Egyptian god Osiris, and a Sri Lankan mask. After the theft of the ball, "people got the message that this place was a joke," the official said, adding that just two weeks later, the mask was stolen during museum hours. He said that when "press came down and asked 'Why were all of these things being stolen?' " museum officials put in better security. Dyson said that when the thefts occurred, he was asked by reporters about security, but could not respond. The museum official also said that, because the Chinese Rotunda is the site of many banquets, it would be "easy" for someone to hide from security when workers make a final check of the area before locking up. The official said that after being locked in the rotunda, the burglar could "go nuts" with all of the artifacts. The only difficulty, according to the official, would be getting out of the rotunda. Although he refused to tell exactly how the burglar might leave the rotunda, he said it is really "very easy." The official said that at night, a skeleton crew supervises the museum, and that University Police are also assigned to the museum, but that the number of security officials is far fewer than the amount needed to ensure against theft. Dyson challenged any outsider to find a second exit from the rotunda, adding that several museum officials have been locked into the rotunda in the past and have had to call out to the security desk to be let out. The museum official also said it would be simple for someone to steal artifacts from the large collection stored in the basement and sub-basement of the museum. "A graduate student or work-study student who wanted to take a shrunken head could put it in his knapsack and walk out," he said. He said the University would probably not miss the stolen artifact for years because of the sheer number of artifacts in the museum basement and because many of the items have not yet been cataloged. Dyson admitted that there would be "no way to prevent" a person from picking up a "small item" from the large collection in the museum's basement. He added that the museum, because it is also a teaching institution, relies on the honesty and integrity of the students who work with the stored collections. Dyson said that in any museum, there are always items which are not cataloged.
(10/30/91 10:00am)
The reported acquaintance rape of a female freshman in a University dormitory occurred in the Lower Quadrangle, University Police said yesterday. And University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said that the woman's alleged male attacker was also a freshmen University student. University Police officials inadvertantly disclosed the location of the reported rape when an administrative assistant put it in the department's bi-weekly crime report sent to the Almanac. Kuprevich said yesterday that he was "extremely upset to find that the information about [the location of] the incident went into the article this morning." "I'm very concerned about information going out that the complainant has asked us not to put out," Kuprevich said. Kuprevich said the Almanac was sent to the printer before the information could be taken out of yesterday's issue. According to the Almanac, police received the rape report at 4:09 a.m. Saturday. Police said on Sunday that the reported rape occurred approximately two hours earlier. Further information about the incident has not been released. Charges against the suspect have not been filed and he has not been arrested.
(10/29/91 10:00am)
The University student who reported being raped by a fellow student early Saturday morning has not yet decided to file charges against her attacker, University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said last night. Kuprevich said the victim does not immediately have to file charges against her alleged attacker. He said the student wanted to inform police about the incident but did not want to take the case to the Philadelphia Police Sex Crimes division. If she does decide to press charges, she and University Police will have to work with Sex Crimes. But University Police are continuing their own investigation of the complaint, according to Detective Supervisor Michael Carrol, who refused to comment on any specifics of the case. According to police, the student was allegedly raped by a male student she knew in an unspecified University dormitory around 2 a.m. Saturday. Two Philadelphia Police spokesmen said yesterday that Philadelphia Police have not been notified about the incident, nor have they begun an investigation into the incident. But Kuprevich said last night that, although the student chose not to file a formal complaint with Philadelphia Sex Crimes, the division was notified by University Police about the incident. Kuprevich said that Sex Crimes agreed not to press the victim to come forward and agreed not to begin investigating until the victim files a formal complaint. Kuprevich stressed that University Police will only "go forward" with charges when the "survivor is ready." Derek Goodman, a Students Together Against Aquaintance Rape Executive board member, said last night that the victim has not come forward to his group. Goodman said it is "a little premature" to expect the student to come forward so soon.
(10/29/91 10:00am)
A University student was robbed in his apartment by a man wielding a hatchet, according to police. The suspect, carrying a hatchet and claiming to carry a gun, confronted the male student as he attempted to enter his apartment at about noon yesterday on 41st Street between Baltimore and Pine streets, police said. The robber forced the student into the apartment and told the student to remain in the bathroom while the suspect robbed the room. The student told police that he ran out of the apartment as soon as he heard the man leave the apartment. The student ran to the University Police Department on the 3900 block of Locust Walk to report the crime yesterday afternoon, Sergeant Michael Fink said. The burglar, who was described as being five feet, 10 inches tall and weighing about 170 pounds, stole a stereo receiver, calculator and other items, according to Fink. In a separate incident, a female student reported being conned out of $25 cash and an automatic teller card Sunday night. The student was approached by a 30-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man and was asked to hold onto a bundle of what the suspects said was cash in exchange for the $25 and an ATM card. The two suspects stole the student's cash and card, according to Fink. He was unable to give further details of the incident. Fink said con artists usually gain victims' confidences by affecting a foreign accent and asking if the victims could hold onto the "cash" in exchange for real money or other valuables. Fink said a similar incident occurred last night at the Roy Roger's Restaurant at 39th and Walnut streets.
(10/28/91 10:00am)
A University Escort Service van carrying two Escort staff members was involved in an accident early Friday morning -- the third accident this month -- according to University Police Lieutenant Susan Holmes. The Escort van was struck from behind by another car, according to Assistant Director of Transportation Stephen Carey. According to Carey, no one in the van was injured and there was minor damage to the van, which "is already back on the road." In a separate incident, a University employee was struck by a car driven by a graduate student outside the 37th Street gate of the Quadrangle at 2:00 p.m. Friday. The woman was distracted when a truck struck a SEPTA bus, and was hit by a car while crossing Spruce Street. The graduate student was unable to stop his car, and hit the woman, giving her minor injuries. The woman was transported to the HUP emergency room and treated for scrapes to her knee and injuries to her ankle, according to University Police Sergeant Michael Fink. University Police also responded to several other incidents over the weekend, including some men trying to buy food with counterfit money at Roy Rogers and a person getting assaulted in a Locust Walk restaurant: · Several males tried to pass counterfit bills at the Roy Rogers Restaurant at 39th and Walnut streets around 6:00 p.m. Thursday. Police said no one was arrested in the incident. · A person was reportedly struck under the eye around 2:00 a.m. Saturday in the Gold Standard restaurant at 3601 Locust. The person, who was not affiliated with the University, suffered a deep laceration to his face. · A local resident was stabbed in the chest at Locust Street and St. Mark's Square. The victim was taken to HUP, treated for minor injuries, and released. · Two people, who were not affiliated to the University, reported they were mugged on the 200 block of St. Mark's Square at 7:15 p.m. Thursday. The suspects, who also were not affiliated with the University, did not have a weapon. · A male intruder attempted to take a refigerator from a house on 45th Street between Spruce and Pine streets at 7:07 p.m. Friday. The suspect fled the area when he was spotted. · A beer keg was confiscated from the Quadrangle by University Police at 4:59 p.m. Friday. The incident has been referred to the Judicial Inquiry Office. · A burglar attempted to pry open the front door of Delta Upsilon house at 4035 Walnut Street at 7:27 p.m. Friday. The unsuccessful suspect fled the scene when he was spotted. · A 6-foot wire spool rolled down Locust Walk towards the Furness Building building early Saturday morning and could not be stopped by a University Police officer. The spool eventually hit a bench and a light pole. No one was injured. · A 1983 Oldsmobile Cutless was stolen from a University parking lot on the 3600 block of Walnut Street at 5:37 p.m. Saturday. · A fire extinguisher was discharged on the third floor of the Alpha Tau Omega house early yesterday morning.
(10/28/91 10:00am)
A female University student was allegedly raped by a male student in a University dormitory this weekend, police said yesterday. The female student told police that she knew the University student who allegedly raped her. She said the incident occurred around 2 a.m. Saturday, and she reported the incident to University Police the same day, according University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich. Kuprevich, who said the incident is under investigation by University Police, said yesterday "we certainly have a suspect." Charges have not yet been filed against the suspect, who Kuprevich declined to identify, and he has not been arrested. Kuprevich also refused to release detailed information on the incident, saying the department is in the process of investigating the matter. He also said the woman who reported the incident asked that specific information be withheld. According to Kuprevich, the Philadelphia Sex Crimes Division was notified about the incident. Kuprevich did not say what dormitory the rape reportedly occurred in, adding that the woman felt that releasing the location would reveal her identity. Barbara Cassel, executive assistant to the vice provost for University Life, said yesterday that the Judicial Inquiry Office has not yet begun to investigate the incident. Victim Services, the division of University Police which handles such cases, can find new housing for the woman if needed, police said. The woman was taken by University Police to Thomas Jefferson Hospital for examination and released later the same day, according to Kuprevich. The hospital, through an agreement with the city, operates a special crisis center whose doctors and nurses are specially trained to handle sex-crime cases. Doctors at the center collect evidence and are trained to be witnesses if they are needed to testify at a trial, according to Kuprevich. Derek Goodman, executive board member of Students Together Against Aquaintance Rape, said yesterday night, "It takes an incredible amount of courage to report something like this." Goodman, who did not know about the incident, said that "survivors" are given information about STAAR, but that STAAR is not given the name or information from University Police about the victim. "The most immediate thing is to attend to the survivor's needs and make sure she is okay," Goodman said. "If she wants to pursue it legally, that would be the next step." According to Goodman, there have been fewer than a half-dozen aquaintance rapes reported to his group this semester. Victims Support Services Director Ruth Wells was out of town and could not be reached for comment last night.
(10/25/91 9:00am)
That's the situation Delta Upsilon brother and PennWatch participant Alex Dunne found himself in Monday night as he walked down the 4000 block of Walnut Street in front of his house. Dunne said that he, another DU brother, and two Phi Sigma Sigma sisters were completing one of their rounds, when he spotted a man in the alley next to the DU house, looking into one of the windows. Dunne, a College junior, said he told the man to "get away from our house," but the suspect remained. He said that when he called University Police on his radio, which all PennWatch volunteers carry, the man realized that police were coming and jumped over the fence into the next yard. Dunne, who was in constant contact with police, said the suspect walked around the fence and "and he ultimately appeared in front of a house," further down the block. About 10 University Police officers came within "a half a minute," according to Dunne, who said he watched the suspect the entire time. Two University Police cruisers arrived and other officers arrived on foot, he said. Police said the man had been arrested previously in connection with a burglary on the 4100 block of Walnut Street and that University Police had received several reports of a suspicious man walking through the area that night, according to Dunne. University Police Sergeant Michael Fink said yesterday that University Police questioned and released the man at about 12:52 a.m.
(10/25/91 9:00am)
University Police Sergeant Thomas Messner knows his way around guns. Messner, a supervisor of the department's Crime Abatement Team, took second place in the individual performance category in this week's marksmen contest of Delaware Valley teams. Messner, who has been with the force for eight years, also virtually carried the four-man University Police Department squad to its second place finish, according to department officials. Eight teams representing Delaware Valley police departments participated in the competition, which was held at the Philadelphia Prison. During the day-long event, the competitors fired 60 shots at targets ranging from three to 25 feet away. The contest for individual performance included a 50-foot range target. Messner and Officers Anthony Richio, Michael Sylvester and Mike Paul represented University Police, giving up a Saturday to compete in the contest. Messner, who is firearms instructor at the department and was ranked one of the top 20 law enforcement marksmen in the state last year, scored 586 out of a possible 600 points -- a "phenomenal" score, according to his teammates. He shot a total of 60 rounds, and had an "incredible" 29 perfect shots, they added. Sylvester, who scored 547, won a third place individual award in the Class B category, which includes the second top three shooters. Sylvester said the competition is not only useful, but added that he "enjoyed it tremendously." "I think it's great experience," he said. "A police officer depends on his gun to save his life." Sylvester, who has never had to use a gun while on duty said, "I feel confident that I would save my life if necessary." Sylvester credited Messner with carrying the team, calling him "an excellent shot." "It made me feel good knowing that we had good shooters," said Officer Anthony Richio, who joined the police force last year. "We accomplished something as a team." Richio, who has been involved in firearms for at least seven years, bemoaned that he had a bad day, scoring 505 out of 600. Each perfect shot is worth 10 points under the scoring system. Points are awarded according to how far from the center of the target the shooter hits.
(10/24/91 9:00am)
Folklore and Folklife Department Chairperson Kenneth Goldstein is scared. "I am fearful," Goldstein said yesterday. "I am fearful for my faculty and staff -- especially my female faculty." And the professor is not alone. In the wake of a gunpoint robbery at the Book Store, several administrators and faculty said yesterday that crime around the University has grown to dangerous proportions. And while some said that the University is doing all it can, a number of others said the University could hire more police and use Escort Services to take employees to trains or subway stops. Goldstein, whose office was moved to Market and 34th streets this year, said although his building is protected, University Police have not contacted him about improving security since the Book Store robbery. "We have classes here, some of which go on till 9:00 p.m.," he said, adding that the University should not ignore 3440 Market just because it does not own it. Director of Student Activities and Facilities Fran Walker said yesterday that the Book Store robbery did not increase her fears about security, but added that she is always careful when on campus. "I feel the same way that any sensible student feels," Walker said. "I need to be careful, I need to use escort, and I try to be watchful." Walker said she feels that the University has made great strides in improving security, and added that crime is inevitable at a school in a large city. "I don't know what the University can do," Walker said. "I think we are in an area where crime is a factor which you must consider." Walker, who said she stays in her Houston Hall office late four or five times a month, said she has never been threatened while walking to her car. But Estelle Walker, a secretary who works in the Franklin Building and generally leaves at 5 p.m., said she is "scared" to walk to 38th Street where her husband picks her up. Walker said that while the University distributes fliers and brochures giving safety tips and updates on crime, more improvements are needed. "We need more police," she said, although she added she does not believe the University could fit it into its budget. University Police, which has doubled its force over the past year, has also implemented two new programs designed to catch criminals, including adding plainclothes officers as part of the Crime Abatement Team. But despite these efforts and early successes for CAT, Shirley Vaughn, an administrative assistant in the Computer Resource Center -- located across from the Book Store -- said yesterday that she "feels very unsafe because we are located in the heart of West Philadelphia." Vaughn, who sometimes leaves the center after 5 p.m., said that she had her purse snatched "a couple of years ago," and since the incident, she has been more fearful for her safety. Vaughn said that, if security were more visible, it might deter crime and make her feel safer. The expansion of Escort Service to include special routes to and from subway stops would ease Vaughn's fears, she said. Beau Ances, undergraduate member of the Safety and Security Committee, said yesterday that "a lot of administrators" are fearful of crime and that the increased use of Escort Service is evidence of their fears.
(10/24/91 9:00am)
A female University employee was robbed at knifepoint while walking to her car in a University parking lot near Franklin Field late Tuesday night, according to University Lieutenant Susan Holmes. And the male assailant, whose name University Police refused to release, was arrested by Philadelphia Police several blocks from the scene. The man, brandishing a knife, approached the employee at about 11:00 p.m. Tuesday and demanded money. The woman, who was not injured in the incident, handed over $150 cash to the man, who then fled north. Philadelphia Police, responding to a report and description of the suspect, arrested the man fitting the description a short while later at 33rd and Arch streets. According to Holmes, other incidents that occurred yesterday and Tuesday included a student who was driving a car recklessly on Locust Walk and and a burglary at 4117 Pine Street: · The University student who was driving recklessly on Locust Walk was stopped by University Police at 10:23 p.m. Tuesday near 37th Street. The matter has been referred to the Judicial Inquiry Office. · University Police apprehended a suspicious male who was inside the Veterinary School Building at 9 p.m. yesterday. The man, who was carrying articles from the building, was located in a room in the Vet School and was taken to Philadelphia Police West Detectives division. · A burglar made off with $1000 worth of jewelry and a $300 video cassette recorder Tuesday night after forcing open a window at a house at 4117 Pine Street. · A $275 JVC radio was stolen from a car in the parking lot in front of Graduate Towers yesterday. · A cordless phone, valued at $70, was stolen from an office in the David Rittenhouse Laboratory yesterday.
(10/18/91 9:00am)
University Police arrested a man in Superblock in connection with a rape which occurred yesterday on the 4400 block of Chestnut Street, according to Sergeant Lawrence Salotti. The man was leaving St. Mary's Church, which is next to University Police headquarters, when he was apprehended, Salotti said. A Philadelphia Sex Crimes officer said last night that police are investigating the alleged rape, but would not release information about the incident. Salotti said he did not have any information about the actual incident, but he did say University Police received a report over the Philadelphia Police radio that a man, who is believed to frequent area soup kitchens, raped a woman yesterday afternoon. The woman was not affiliated with the University. University Police assigned an officer to observe St. Mary's Church, which feeds homeless people on Thursdays. The officer stopped a man fitting the description of the suspect and transported him to the Philadelphia Sex Crimes Division for identification and questioning, according to Salotti. The suspect did not resist and was taken in at 6:10 p.m. yesterday, Salotti said. University Police also received a report of an indecent assault of a woman on 36th Street between Walnut and Spruce streets, according to Salotti. The woman, who was walking on 36th Street, was grabbed at 7:55 p.m. Wednesday by three juveniles, each about 15-years-old. The youths fled the scene and have not been apprehended, according to Salotti.
(10/18/91 9:00am)
Three University students were robbed at gunpoint Saturday night in two separate incidents occurring within an hour, University Police said. In addition, University Police responded to two other robberies, a simple assault, a report of a man brandishing a gun, and several burglaries over the weekend. A male student reported being robbed at gunpoint by two men riding bikes on the 4200 block of Walnut Street at 10:37 p.m. Saturday, according to University Police Lieutenant Susan Holmes. The attacker struck the student on the left side of his head with the gun, but did not steal anything, Holmes said. University Police responded to a second gunpoint robbery of two students on the corner of 36th and Sansom streets just an hour after the first incident. The male and female University students were robbed of $24 by a teenage male riding a bike at 11:38 p.m Saturday, Holmes said. The attacker, who was 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed about 150 pounds, was last seen riding on a dirtbike and wearing a green shirt, blue jeans, and a coral necklace as he headed west on Sansom. University Police also responded to a report of a man brandishing a gun on the corner of 40th and Locust streets at 11:36 p.m Saturday, according to Holmes. The man, wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, was last seen heading west on Locust Street. University Police stopped a man fitting the description later that night, but because the man had no outstanding warrants, he was released. In a separate incident, University Police received a report of a strongarm robbery of a University student at 11:32 p.m. Friday on 41st Street between Walnut and Spruce streets. A male student was robbed of his Trek Mountain bike when a man approached and threatened him. The man was about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, had a thin build and short hair and was wearing a long grey jacket. He was last seen heading north on 41st Street towards Chestnut Street. In a separate incident, two male University students were robbed by two male attackers in a University parking lot on the corner of 38th and Walnut streets Friday night, according to Holmes. Two suspects approached and demanded money from the two students at 12:39 a.m. Saturday. When the students resisted, the men attacked them. Both students refused medical treatment. The attackers fled, and University Police recovered a golf club at the scene. It is unclear whether the attackers used the club against the students. In other incidents over the weekend: · University Police responded to a report of a simple assault in High Rise East at 5:16 a.m. yesterday, according to Holmes. A female student reported that her boyfriend assaulted her, but later refused to press charges when University Police arrived. · Holmes said University Police who responded to a burglary in a room in the Quadrangle at 1:40 a.m. Sunday morning. The room was ransacked and a note including sexual references was left. It is unknown whether anything was stolen. · University Police also responded to a report of disorderly conduct, broadcast on the Philadelphia Police radio, at the corner of 38th and Chestnut streets at 1:49 a.m yesterday. Philadelphia Police arrested one man and University Police helped control the crowd, according to Holmes. · In a separate incident, University Police responded to a report of a burglary at 7:44 p.m. Friday at 212 south 41st street. A rear window was opened, and clothing was taken, Holmes said. · University Police also responded to a report of a burglary of a man's Trek Mountain bike was stolen at 229 south 41st Street at 9:58 a.m. Friday. · A Ford Mustang was stolen from a University parking lot at 32nd and Walnut streets at about 6:00 p.m Friday. · In addition, a second car was stolen from a University Parking Lot on the north side of Franklin Field at 10:27 p.m. Saturday, Holmes said.
(10/18/91 9:00am)
Two men tried to hold up the University Book Store at gunpoint early yesterday morning, but when the store's director refused to open its safe, the men kicked him in the face and fled onto Locust Walk without any loot. Book Store Director Michael Knezic was opening the store around 5:25 a.m. when a man approached him from behind with a silver semi-automatic gun, according to University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich. The man gun forced him into the store while a second suspect approached and told him to open the store's locked safe, Kuprevich said. When Knezic said he did not know the combination, the men forced Knezic to lay down on the ground in the parking lot behind the store, according to University Police Sergeant Lawrence Salotti. Kuprevich said some words were exchanged, But when Knezic looked, the suspects kicked him in the face, breaking his nose. Both suspects fled on foot and nothing was taken, according to Kuprevich, who said the two suspects were last seen heading south toward Locust Walk. The police commissioner said that when Knezic was attacked, an alarm was set off in the store, and police arrived on the scene minutes after the alarm sounded. He added, however, that neither suspect has been apprehended. According to Kuprevich, University Police now have a composite sketch of one of the two suspects and are investigating the incident. The armed suspect was six feet tall and wore blue coveralls. The second suspect was also six feet tall, had a thin build, and had a yellow blanket wrapped around his body. University Police recovered a blue ski mask and a white jacket from a vehicle parked on 37th Street between Chestnut and Walnut streets, according to Salotti. William Petrick, an assistant director at the Book Store, said last night that this is the first incident in the 45 years he has worked for the store. Petrick, who said he has "never felt threatened," added that he is more concerned for "others who have managerial duties such as opening and closing the store." Petrick, who closed the store last night, said he was not afraid because he was being escorted out of the store by a University Police officer. "All retail stores have the possibility of having something stolen," Petrick said. "Every precaution will be taken." University Police said yesterday security will be beefed up around the Book Store and that Book Store employees will be able to call for police escort when entering and leaving the building each day. "We have assigned an officer to be at or in the store when the store is secured for the night," Salotti said yesterday. And Kuprevich said that the department will conduct a security review of other buildings on campus with safes and other valuables where people are entering or leaving at non-business hours.
(10/17/91 9:00am)
A Sigma Chi brother, arrested two weeks ago for punching a University Police officer in the face, said last week that police overreacted and he may file suit against the officer because of the incident. The student, Wharton sophomore Byron Bennett, said Tuesday that he hit the officer by accident, if at all, and was unfairly arrested by the officer. University Police said that the Sigma Chi brother punched the University Police officer in the face, knocking off his glasses, in front of the fraternity's Superblock house during a party. But Bennett said he does not remember hitting the officer, and claimed that even if he did hit the policeman, it did not warrant an arrest and the possible 10 years in prison he now faces. Bennett said the police officer, who was hired by the fraternity to supervise the party, followed him after he angrily left the party because of an argument he had with a friend. Bennett pushed his way through a crowd of people who were trying to get into the party, and headed east down Locust Walk towards the footbridge, the student said. As he was walking, the officer grabbed Bennett's arm and Bennett, thinking that it was a Sigma Chi brother trying to get him to go back to the party, shrugged the officer's arm off, according to the Sigma Chi brother. Bennett said he does not know exactly when he struck the officer, but he assumed it was during that shrug that he inadvertently hit the policeman. Two other Sigma Chi brothers who said they witnessed the incident said they did not see Bennett hit the officer. Bennett was then surrounded by 50 to 100 students, who were telling the police to let him go, and was asked by his brothers to return to the house, Bennett said. But after a brief discussion between the officer and another policeman, he was thrown down on the ground, handcuffed, and taken to the University Police department by the officer, Bennett said. Sigma Chi President Kevin Scheetz said the discussion between the two police officers was an argument about whether or not to arrest Bennett. Scheetz added that he felt the police overreacted to the incident. But University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said yesterday that Bennett "was shoving and pushing people away [as he walked out of Sigma Chi]." "The officer attempted to stop the person to find out what was going on, but the person resisted the officer's attempt," Kuprevich said. "The person pushed the officer out of the way, refused to give ID, and basically struck the officer. At that point he put the person under arrest." Kuprevich said that there was an altercation and that a University Police officer was involved, but refused to go into greater detail. "We ask our officers to have the patience of Job," Kuprevich said, adding that he does expect his officers "to go to the Nth degree in coping with the situation." "We are not here to see how many students we can arrest," Kuprevich said. "Anytime we arrest a student, that is not a success in our eyes." Bennett said he is also upset that he was forced to spend the night in Center City at the Philadelphia Police Roundhouse in a dirty cell where people were vomiting on the floor. After being taken to the University Police station, University Police followed normal procedures by taking Bennett to Philadelphia Police's 18th Police District Headquarters at 55th and Pine Streets to have his charges processed, Bennett said. Because of either a problem with the closed circuit television used to process suspects or a malfunction in the facsimile machine used to transmit fingerprints to the Philadelphia Admisnistration building, Bennett was taken down to the Roundhouse at 8th and Race streets. There, Bennett was placed in a holding cell called the "Bubble," which the University student said was extremely dirty and people were vomiting on the cell floor. The "Bubble," is a cell in which all defendants are kept before being processed. According to Philadelphia Police records, Bennett was arrested at 1:38 a.m., arrived at the 18th District Headquarters almost two and a half hours later, and was admitted to the Roundhouse at 10:10 a.m. Saturday morning. He was finally released at 5:35 a.m. Sunday morning. Bennett, who was charged the Wednesday following his arrest, faces a prison term if he is convicted of the felony of assaulting a police officer. Associate Legal Studies Professor William Tyson agreed to represent Bennett in the case after Wharton Vice Dean Janice Bellace referred him to the professor. Tyson said that Bennett's status as a University student will not dissuade a judge from convicting him. Although aggravated assault carries with it a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, Bennett could realistically receive a sentence of two years, Tyson said. He said that a major legal question is whether the off-duty officer, hired by the fraternity to supervise the party, has the right to arrest or even confront students. Tyson, who called the charges "very serious," said that he hopes to work out an agreement in which Bennett would enter a rehabilitation program called Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition. The program, primarily designed for defendants facing misdemeanor charges, allows the defendant to enter the program with no finding of guilt or innocence. But because the arresting officer must sign a waiver form for the ARD program, Tyson said he fears that the officer will not agree to the arrangement. Tyson said yesterday that Vice Dean Bellace sent a letter last week to the Philadelphia District Attorney's office supporting Bennett's bid to be admitted to the ARD program. According to Tyson, if Bennett is admitted to the program he would agree to waive any right to file a civil suit against the University Police Department. The District Attorney's office will decide if Bennett is eligible for the program after Bennett's arraignment later this month. After completion of the program, Bennett's record would be expunged.
(10/17/91 9:00am)
University Police received a report yesterday of shots being fired Monday night at the closed Barley and Hops Tavern on the 3900 block of Walnut Street. Employees of the Baskin Robbins ice cream store said they heard five gunshots outside their store aimed at Barley and Hops at about 11:30 p.m. Monday, according to University Police Sergeant Lawrence Salotti. Salotti said University Police responded to the report to find one round, which entered through a store window and ended up in the roof of the building. According to Salotti, witnesses said the shots were fired from a small, dark colored Honda car. At the time of the incident, no authorities were notified, according to Salotti. University Police also responded to one strongarm robbery, two burglaries, and one attempted burglary over break. Two males tried to take a bank deposit from a Megavideo store worker in front of the McDonald's Restaurant at the corner of 40th and Walnut street at 1:48 p.m. Friday, according to University Police Sergeant Michael Fink. According to Fink, they were unable to take the money and fled the scene. Both suspects were about 20 to 27 years old. One suspect was wearing a black and white shirt and a white Adidas hat. The second man wore a blue shirt, blue jeans and a blue hat, according to Fink. Four packages were stolen from the Quadrangle Mailroom over the weekend. The packages of unknown value were taken between Friday and Saturday, according to University Police. In a separate incident, University Police responded to a report of burglary at the Castor Building. According to police, an IBM typewriter was stolen sometime during Thursday night. University Police also responded to an attempted burglary at the Delta Psi fraternity Sunday evening. A man, in his twenties, was seen attempting to break into an east side window of the house by two St. A's brothers. The man, dressed in black, fled.
(10/11/91 9:00am)
A University employee was robbed at knifepoint Wednesday night on Beige Block, University Police Sergeant Lawrence Salotti said yesterday. The woman and her friend were walking on 41st Street between Locust and Walnut Streets just after 12:30 a.m. when a man approached them carrying a knife, and proceeded to grab the woman's shoulder bag, police said. The woman and the attacker struggled, and the attacker struck the woman in the head with the handle of the knife and fled with the bag. University Police said the car was occupied by another man and woman. The attacker was described as about 30 years old, six-feet, two-inches tall, weighing 140 to 145 pounds and last seen wearing dark pants and an orange or red jacket with stripes on the sleeves. According to Salotti, a check with the Department of Motor Vehicles revealed the car was stolen. The woman was transported by University Police to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and treated for an injured eye. She was released from the hospital later that night, and her friend was unharmed. In a separate incident, University Police responded to a report that approximately $930 was stolen from an unlocked desk drawer in the offices of the Department of Residential Living in High Rise North. The cash was stolen between October 1 and yesterday, according to Salotti.
(10/08/91 9:00am)
Two men fitting the same description robbed four University students and a friend of a student at gunpoint in three separate incidents within an hour Sunday night. University Police also reported that a fourth gunpoint robbery occurred Sunday and two strongarm robberies occurred yesterday morning. In one of the strongarm robberies, the victim was jumped and strangled until he passed out, but recovered without needing medical attention. In the first incident, a student was walking on Walnut Street near 42nd Street around 9:10 p.m., when he was approached by two males, one of whom was carrying a six-inch revolver, who told him to "give me your money," according to University Police Lieutenant Susan Holmes. The muggers took the cash in the student's wallet, gave the wallet back to the student, and fled south on St. Mark's Square. The student was uninjured. Police said the armed suspect was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, about 20 years old and was last seen wearing a black Georgetown University jacket and a New York Yankees hat. The second suspect was also about 20 years old, but was 6 feet, 2 inches tall and was last seen wearing a green Philadelphia Eagles jacket, a hat and dark pants. Two minutes after the first incident, University Police received a second call of a gunpoint robbery, this time on 43rd Street between Walnut and Spruce streets, according to Holmes. A female University student and her male friend, who is not affiliated with the University, were walking north on 43rd from Spruce when they were aproached by two men fitting the same description as the men in the first incident. One of the suspects said, "Let's have the money," according to Holmes. The suspects took a total of $14 and left the student and her friend unharmed. A third gunpoint robbery by two men fitting the same description was reported to police at 10:11 p.m., according to Holmes. In this incident, two University students were robbed on 42nd between Walnut and Spruce by two male suspects. Both students were left unharmed and it is unclear what, if anything, was stolen. A fourth but unrelated gunpoint robbery occurred around midnight Sunday night when a manager of the Eric 3 On Campus theater was robbed of $1500 by two men and a woman in a parking lot on the corner of 40th and Locust streets. One male suspect was 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 20 to 25 years old and was last seen wearing a dirty red jacket, construction boots and was armed with a small-caliber revolver. The second male suspect was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, dark complected, and was last seen wearing blue jeans. The female suspect wore a hooded sweatshirt, according to Holmes. The manager was left unharmed, and all three assailants fled north towards Walnut Street. Two additional but unrelated strongarm robberies occurred yesterday morning as well. According to Holmes, one of the incidents occurred when a man, who was affiliated with the University, was grabbed from behind and choked by a suspect who then took his wallet after he fell unconscious. University Police responded to the report at 44th and Walnut streets at 9:50 a.m. yesterday. The suspect stole $20 and a PENNcard from the man. The other strongarm robbery occurred around 9 a.m on 41st near Walnut when a woman, who is not affiliated with the University, was attacked by two men who tried to take her purse. When the woman resisted, the purse opened and a wallet fell to the ground. The muggers grabbed the wallet and ran east on Sansom Street towards 41st with the wallet, which reportedly contained $40. One of the suspects was 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 20 years old, had a dark complection and was last seen wearing a dark colored ski hat, a white t-shirt, a brown sweater, blue jeans, and white Nike sneakers. The second suspect was 20 years old and five feet, ten inches tall, and had a box style haircut. He was last seen wearing a windbreaker jacket and a dark sweater.
(10/08/91 9:00am)
Christmas has come in October, according to West Philadelphia resident Herman Rice. Rice, the founder of a nationally-known anti-drug group, believes a new program created by the Philadelphia District Attorney's office will be a major weapon in the fight against drugs. The program, begun yesterday, was developed by the DA's office and community groups with the help of a $500,000 grant from the state. Eight prosecutors and four detectives, along with a complement of administrators, will be assigned to Philadelphia's 18th Police District -- the area which surrounds the University. Each prosecutor will be assigned to a neighborhood in West Philadelphia. The Intensive Narcotics Enforcement Program, called LINE, "will enable the District Attorney's office to vertically prosecute offenders," according to DA spokesperson William Delvol. An assistant district attorney will handle a case from the pre-trial hearings to the trial and hopefully to a conviction, Delvol said. "I think [the program] will affect the University tremendously," Delvol said last week. "You are a test case." LINE -- the first of its kind in the country -- was established in the 18th district because of the Mantua Against Drugs organization, which provides the district with a strong network of anti-drug community groups, he said. The diverse composition of the district, with its University students, its middle class neighborhoods and its slums, will provide a perfect test area for the program, according to Rice. "The neighbors are ecstatic," said Rice, who founded his anti-drug coalition in the 16th district. Rice said that although he wanted the 16th district to receive the grant money and the program, he campaigned for the program to be set up in the 18th district because "the 18th has everything. If it works there it can work everywhere." Bernie Kimmons, chief of staff for the Mantua Against Drugs program, said last night that the program is "a marriage between us and the DA's office." "It makes the community aware that the DAs care about the community," Kimmons said. "It creates a personal relationship between the district attorney and the community." In a very rough estimate, the new program could cut drug-related crime around campus by as much as 50 percent, Philadelphia Police Detective Lawrence Singer said. Although University Police do not make a significant number of drug arrests, the program will decrease the amount of overall crime around campus, according to Singer. "It's always more effective to have an assistant district attorney who is going to take a case from the preliminary hearings to the final trial," Singer said. "They get to know the case." Singer said the program won't affect University Police "in terms of the number of actual cases we initiate," but he is "hopeful that this will cut down on crime around campus." Eight prosecutors, who have been reassigned to the program, will work with individual neighborhoods in the 18th District -- the district bounded on the east by the Schuylkill River, on the west by 49th Street and stretching north to Market Street. Delvol said that a major advantage of the program is that it will help confiscate drug money, which will be recycled into the LINE program. "This program will take [drug offenders] out of government subsidized housing," Bertha Hines said last night. "It will keep these guys off the street." Hines, who is secretary of the University City Against Drugs organization, said neighbors she has talked with are optimistic about the future of the program. "Someone from the DA's office is going to talk to us this Wednesday," Hines said, adding that this program proves that fighting drugs "is not a joke anymore."
