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(10/07/91 9:00am)
A University student and her friend were robbed at gunpoint yesterday morning near the corner of 42nd and Locust streets, according to University Police. University Police also responded to two armed robberies, two strongarm robberies and two accidents involving Escort vans over the weekend. In the gunpoint robbery, the student told police she was walking with a female friend on Locust Street, when a six-foot-tall man wearing dark clothes drew a black automatic gun and robbed her of a purse and a sidepack around 1:50 a.m. The suspect was last seen fleeing up Locust towards 43rd Street. In a separate and unrelated incident, an off-duty University Police sergeant caught a man robbing a person at knifepoint near the corner of 41st and Spruce Street Friday evening, University Police Lieutenant Susan Holmes said. The sergeant was driving his personal car when he saw three people robbing the man, Holmes said. The officer stopped his car, jumped out, and yelled that he was a policeman. The officer caught and arrested one man at the scene. The other two fled, but were arrested nearby by Philadelphia Police. In a third robbery this weekend, a person was robbed of $50 at a MAC machine in the WaWa Convenience Store at 36th and Walnut Streets around 1:15 p.m. Saturday. Police said a 170-pound man, between 20 and 30 years old, with a box-style haircut and wearing a blue jacket, pushed the complainant and grabbed the money the complainant had just withdrawn from the MAC machine. University Police also reported two accidents involving Escort Service vans, in which the vehicles struck parked cars on Chestnut Street Saturday night. The first accident occurred on Chestnut Street near 36th Street around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. There were no injuries and it was unclear if students were in the van at the time of the accident. The second Escort van hit a parked car barely an hour and a half later on the 4300 block of Chestnut Street. Again, there were no injuries and it was unclear if the students were in the van at the time of the accident. Transportation and Parking Assistant Director Stephen Carey could not be reached for comment last night, and an Escort official who was contacted last night would not comment on the incident. In another incident over the weekend, a male University student reported being assaulted by one of four males on the 4100 block of Locust Street 2 a.m. Saturday, according to Holmes. The student said he was punched in the face by a six-foot, three-inch tall man. Although he sustained swelling in his mouth he refused medical treatment. The suspect was described as being 19 or 20 years old and was last seen wearing dark jeans and dark shoes. In an unrelated incident, a University student was robbed of $9 in the doorway of 329 South 42nd Street at 9:20 p.m. Friday, Holmes said, adding that Philadelphia Police arrested a suspect in connection with the incident. Holmes also said a Palestra equipment room manager stopped a juvenile who was caught taking one can of tennis balls without authorization, according to Holmes. Holmes said that during the past two weeks, $960 worth of equipment has been stolen from the Palestra, but it was unclear if the juvenile is responsible for the thefts. University Police also responded to a report of a strongarm robbery on the 4000 block of Walnut Street at 3:10 a.m. Saturday, according to Holmes. A man, who is not affiliated with the University, was assaulted and robbed by three men who fled the scene. One suspect was five feet, 10 inches tall and 195 pounds and was last seen wearing a dark blue and white McDonalds shirt. A second suspect was described as six-foot-tall and having a slim build. There was no description for the third suspect, according to Holmes.
(10/02/91 9:00am)
A man with a shotgun held up a West Philadelphia resident Monday night near 42nd and Locust streets and stole her car, police said yesterday. According to police reports, Philadelphia Police responded to a call of a screaming woman on St. Mark's Place between Walnut and Locust streets at 10:14 p.m. Monday. A Philadelphia Police spokesperson said yesterday that a man carrying a shotgun underneath his coat approached the woman in the car, lifted up his coat to reveal the shotgun, and demanded her car. Police said the woman got out of the blue 1991 Mazda, and the man -- described as five-feet, 11-inches tall and wearing a grey sweatshirt -- jumped in and drove off. In a separate and unrelated incident, a woman was robbed at gunpoint of her purse, jacket and earrings while she was walking her dog on the 4000 block of Spruce Street, University Police Sergeant Michael Fink said. A suspect, wearing a black shirt and jeans, was last seen fleeing north through University Parking Lot 31, on the north side of Spruce Street. Fink said the suspect's accomplices were arrested by University Police near the scene, but it was unclear if the the person who committed the robbery was caught. Fink said he could not say how many accomplices were arrested.
(10/01/91 9:00am)
Two University faculty members were robbed by two men of $60 cash on the 4500 block of Spruce Street around 7:50 p.m. Sunday, University Police reported yesterday. The robbers, one 20 to 23 years old and the second 16 to 17 years old, threatened that they had a gun, police said. University Police had no other information on the incident. In a separate and unrelated incident, a woman was robbed at gunpoint yesterday morning by two men, who were later caught by University Police, on the 3900 block of Spruce Street. University Police received the report of an armed robbery around 5 a.m yesterday, and caught and arrested two men, Keenan Weatherspoon, of the 1900 block of north 19th Street, and Faranti Lewis, of the 7200 block of Cornell Street, according to Sergeant Michael Fink. The woman identified both men as the robbers, and Fink said both men will be charged with robbery and related offenses. In a separate incident, three telephones, a computer and some wedding gifts were stolen from Meyerson Hall over the weekend. According to Fink, police responded to the report of a burglary around 4:10 p.m. Sunday. In an unrelated incident, two juveniles wearing "ninja-type" masks, one of whom was carrying a kitchen knife, were arrested for running around in Vance Hall, Fink said. Fink said he and another officer responded to the call and caught one of the youths in a stairwell, while the second juvenile was caught by University Police beneath the footbridge at 38th Street and Locust Walk. Police arrested the juveniles for trespassing and recovered one knife with a eight to 10 inch blade. There were no injuries. In a separate incident, University Police responded to a call at 333 Blockley Hall, the office of the Medical School's Facilities Management, that a University employee, who was about to be fired, "threatened to get a gun and go back to kill a supervisor," Fink said. No one was injured and University detectives are investigating the matter, Fink said.
(09/30/91 9:00am)
A Sigma Chi brother punched a University Police officer in the face outside the fraternity's Superblock house during a party there early Saturday morning, University Police said yesterday. Sergeant Lawrence Fink said that at about 1:38 a.m. Saturday, a University Police officer was watching the party from Locust Walk when the brother pushed the officer two or three times. "When the male was stopped by police, he swung, punching the officer in the mouth and knocked off his glasses," Fink said last night. Fink declined to release the name of the suspect, saying only that he was a brother of the house. Sigma Chi President Kevin Scheetz declined to comment specifically on the incident yesterday, saying only that he could confirm that the incident occurred and that the brother had been arrested. In a separate and unrelated incident, two people living at the 4600 Spruce Street Apartments were chased out the building by a black man brandishing a silver 38-caliber pistol, according to police. The couple, who were not affiliated with the University, identified the man as James Baker, an acquaintance. According to Joseph Allman, a graduate student in Education who lives on the 4600 block of Spruce Street, "a couple was running like hell up the street." "It was clear they weren't just running for a bus," Allman said. "They were running away from someone." Allman, who was sitting outside his house with four friends, watched as the black man, wearing brown pants and a beige Hawaiian shirt, ran after the couple yelling, "You're a dead man," and fired the pistol into the air. The suspect then went back into the apartment building and "apparently ditched the gun," Allman said. Wharton graduate student Ben Bentzin, who also lives on the 4600 block of Spruce, said he looked out of his house after the shot was fired. Bentzin said he saw the man come back out of the apartment building and heard him yell, "I'm gonna kill you, I'm gonna kill you, then I'm gonna kill your mother." Two University Police officers who were transporting two juveniles at 54th and Spruce streets were hailed down by the couple, who told them they were being chased and shot at by a man on a bus. The University officers saw Baker, who faces an outstanding warrant for a prior gun charge, and chased him, but lost him at 55th and Spruce streets. Baker was last seen fleeing north on 55th Street and then east on Irving Street. Fink said that Philadelphia Police found the weapon with one spent shell still in it. In another separate incident, a University student was assaulted by two men at 1:16 a.m. Friday outside the Track and Turf Bar on the 4200 block of Chester Street. The student, who refused medical treatment, was punched in the face, knocked to the ground, and beat on the legs by two men, one of whom was last seen wearing an orange shirt and beige pants, according to Fink. The second attacker weighed 200 lbs., was six feet, two inches tall and wore long pants. In an unrelated incident, a man attempting to break into a house at 3912 Pine Street was caught by University Police in broad daylight at 10:12 a.m. Friday. The man, Arthur Williams, of the 500 block of north 40th Street, was caught trying to force open a window with a crowbar, according to Fink. He was charged with attempted burglary. University Police said someone forced their way into several third floor rooms at the Hollenback Center at 8:34 a.m. Saturday. Fink said he did not know what, if anything, was stolen.
(09/30/91 9:00am)
The man police have accused of sexually assaulting four women in the campus area was found innocent of one of the assaults Friday by a Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge. Judge Craig Lord, after a day-long trial, found the 38-year-old Luke not guilty of attempted rape, burglary and related charges in the assault of a CHOP doctor near campus because of insufficient evidence, according to Assistant District Attorney Jeanette Synnestvedt. Luke was also found not guilty in August for the alleged rape of a University employee at 41st and Spruce streets, but he still faces another attempted rape charge and an indecent assault charge. The remaining two cases will likely go to trial in October. Luke, dressed in a yellow sweater and brown pants, was emotionless during the testimony of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia doctor he was accused of attempting to rape. The doctor testified Friday that she was taking a shower early in the morning of February 15, 1988, when she heard a noise in her apartment, which is in a building on 42nd Street between Locust and Walnut streets. She got out of the shower, wrapped a towel around herself and was ready to investigate the noise, when she saw a man she identified as Luke standing in her bathroom doorway, she said. According to the doctor's testimony, she saw Luke's boots first and then screamed, but became silent when he pulled the towel she was wearing up to her neck. The doctor told the judge she felt her screaming made Luke nervous and she was afraid he would hurt her. Her attacker pushed her to her knees and then kneeled down on the floor above her, according to the doctor. "I asked him, 'What do you want?' and he said, 'You,' " she told the court. She said she turned to look at the man, dressed in a heavy grey jacket, baggy pants and wearing a cap with a tassel, but when she looked up, he punched her in her eye. "He spread my legs and I felt his finger in my vagina," sher said, adding that when she heard him pull down his pants' zipper, she decided had better do something to avoid being raped. She told the court that Luke then reached up to the sink and washed his hands, and then got up and walked to the window he used to enter. Before he left, she said that her attacker wished her, "Good morning, honey." The prosecution's case was weakened, however, when she selected the wrong man in a six-man line-up months after the incident, according to the testimony of a Philadelphia Police Major Crimes Division supervisor. According to the supervisor, Luke, the number five man in the line, looked remarkably similar in slides shown to the court to the number two man, whom the doctor chose as her attacker. She explained in her testimony that she made her selection based on the "behavior" of the number two man. She said the man was jittery and constantly looked down at the floor, while the rest of the men in the line up were relatively calm. After she told supervisor her selection, the men were told to leave the line-up box, and, she said, when she saw the profile of Luke, she realized she made a mistake. She said she asked the supervisor if she could see the line-up again, but he refused to repeat the process. Assistant District Attorney Synnestvedt also questioned the first officer who arrived at the scene, who testified that the doctor was hysterical and that he found an open window with a broken screen. During her cross-examination by Stephen Gross, Luke's attorney, she at times turned pale and was visably shaken, according to Synnestvedt. "Typically in rape cases, the defense attorney goes hard on the victim, and in this case, that was no exception," Synnestvedt said. "His style was extremely aggressive, more so than the average case I try." "The witness later said she would never put herself through this," Synnestvedt added. "She was emotionally distraught after the testimony." According to Synnestvedt, "nothing much came out in cross-examination." Synnestvedt said that Judge Lord rendered a fair decision and that Luke was found not guilty because of insufficient evidence. "He did not find her not credible," Synnestvedt explained. "We just didn't have enough [evidence]." "Police don't have enough equipment or people to [dust for fingerprints]," Synnestvedt said. "Very rarely is a sex crime scene prosecuted like a homicide scene." The two remaining charges Luke faces, one sexual assault and a second attempted rape, are "stronger," according to Synnestvedt.
(09/30/91 9:00am)
The dog died at 4:55 p.m. yesterday. The pure-bred doberman pinscher took his last breath as an SPCA worker lifted him into a truck more than an hour after being shot by a University Police officer. The off-duty officer shot and killed the doberman as the dog made a final charge at an elderly woman emptying her trash. According to University Police Sergeant Thomas Rambo, the officer saw the dog attack a woman in front of her house on 47th Street between Springfield and Chester streets, as the officer was leaving a friend's house around 3:45 p.m. Rambo said the woman picked up a board in an effort to fend off the dog, while the officer yelled at the doberman to distract it. The dog, undaunted by both the board and the officer, attacked a second and a third time, according to Rambo. "The officer made many attempts to stop the dog," Rambo said last night. "The woman was in jeopardy of receiving serious bodily injury." According to police, as the dog attacked for the third time, the woman froze and appeared unable to defend herself. The officer drew the weapon and fired one round into the dog's chest, Rambo said. The mortally wounded dog ran into a "secluded junk pile," while University Police notified the SPCA, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. An SPCA official, who did not know the name of the dog or its owner, said last night that the male doberman died as the dog was lifted into an SPCA truck. Rambo said last night that University Police are investigating the incident. He declined to release the officer's name or that of the elderly woman, the dog and its owner.
(09/27/91 9:00am)
A University student was robbed at gunpoint during the early morning hours Thursday in a University parking lot on the 4200 block of Spruce Street. According to University Police Lieutenant Susan Holmes, the male student was robbed by a five-foot, eight-inch man who had a dark complection and was wearing a blue nylon windbreaker with lime green stripes. After robbing the student around 1 a.m., the man fled south on 42nd Street on foot. The student was not injured and Holmes did not know what, if anything, was stolen. University Police also responded to several other incidents yesterday. Two people were robbed of their purses outside the Bicycle Express store on 40th Street between Walnut and Locust Streets. In the first incident, a female University student standing outside of the shop reported her purse was stolen at about 4:15 p.m. yesterday. According to Holmes, the student was approached by three suspects, one of whom reached into her bookbag and removed her purse containing $15 in cash and an automatic teller card. The two male suspects and one five-foot, five-inch, long-haired female suspect fled west on Locust Street, according to Holmes. Bicycle Express cashier Leslie Mag said yesterday that the student, who came into her store to report the crime, told her a male suspect brushed up against her and took her wallet. One witness, College senior Robert O'Leary, said when the suspect was confronted by the victim, the suspect said, "I ain't got your wallet." Holmes said one of the suspects -- a six-foot, three-inch 28- to 30-year-old male -- was last seen wearing a red cap, jeans and carrying a leather jacket. The second male suspect was five-foot, five-inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, and was 18 to 20 years old. In the second incident, a complainant reported her purse and its contents, including credit cards, were stolen at Bicycle Express at 7:23 p.m. Wednesday. In other incidents, three University buildings were burglarized during the last two days. The Edison Building at 3231 Walnut Street was broken into Wednesday night by an unknown person who broke the office window on the south side of the building, according to Holmes. The burglar stole a Sharp radio which was on the window sill. In a separate incident, the Chemistry Building was burglarized by an unknown person who removed $50 dollars in cash and other assorted articles from a locked combination safe. The incident, which happened sometime between 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and 8:30 a.m. yesterday, was reported to University Police at 11:15 a.m. yesterday. Holmes did not know how the burglar entered the building, but said that the safe was not forced open. In a final incident, an unattended, unsecured wallet was stolen from a desk drawer in the Clinical Research Building, according to Holmes.
(09/26/91 9:00am)
A Children's Hospital of Philadelphia female employee was beaten with a baseball bat and then robbed by three 13-year-old males just west of campus Tuesday, University Police reported yesterday. According to University Police Lieutenant Susan Holmes, the woman was beaten at the corner of 43rd and Locust streets around 10:30 p.m., suffering a broken left leg and lacerations to her face. The woman was escorted home by the University Police officers, according to Holmes. Holmes did not know what, if anything, was stolen from the woman and said the three attackers were last seen fleeing north on 43rd Street. The bat-wielding attacker was last seen wearing a black t-shirt and a black jacket. A second attacker also wore a black t-shirt, but had on a burgundy jacket. There was no description for the third assailant. Holmes said the University Police will beef up patrols in the area of the attack, and added that the University Police's Crime Abatement Team has been apprised of the situation. In other incidents, a vagrant reported being assaulted by a University employee behind Vance Hall at 8:06 a.m. yesterday, according to Holmes. University Police questioned the unidentified janitor, who denied assaulting the vagrant. Holmes said the janitor accused the vagrant of assaulting him. In a separate and unrelated incident, a videocassette recorder, reportedly valued at $400, was stolen from a secure office in the Clinical Research Building, Holmes said. Police also reported that a window of College Pizza, a new store on the 3900 block of Walnut Street, was found broken at 3:59 a.m. yesterday. Police notified maintenance personnel.
(09/25/91 9:00am)
Walter Annenberg would not be pleased. His school of communications was transformed overnight from the Annenberg School for Communication to the "Annenberg School for C u i i ." According to police, a vandal accomplished in one night something which has taken the Oriental Studies Department nearly two years to do -- he changed the name of a school. University Police Lieutenant Susan Holmes said yesterday that building administrators noticed yesterday that nine silver letters that are part of a sign on the north side of the communications building were missing. Holmes said the incident was reported to police at 9:57 p.m. yesterday, and that no one reported seeing the robber strip the building of the aluminum letters. The letters are valued at $300 apiece, Holmes said, adding that the total loss is about $2700. She said that the vandal might have wanted to sell the aluminum letters to a recycling plant. But Annenberg Dean Kathleen Jamieson doesn't think an environmentally-conscious robber would get very much for them. Despite the high cost of custom-made letters, Jamieson said, "There is [not] a big street demand for the letter 'O' right now." While University Police keep an eye out for the missing silver letters, Jamieson may have found a solution of her own. "We are going to put the kind of glue that lifts cars on the remaining letters and go out there tomorrow to see who's stuck to the letters," Jamieson said. The dean-turned-detective said she has one possible motive for the robbery. "My theory is that you'll find an optometrist on campus who is piecing together the letters to spell the name of a new department." In a separate and unrelated incident, a burglar stole two Sony Walkmen out of two separate desks in Meyerson Hall yesterday afternoon, Holmes said. Three other lockers were forced open, but nothing was taken, Holmes said.
(09/24/91 9:00am)
Raydell Luke, the man prosecutors believe is responsible for a series of sex crimes in University City, faces trial on charges of attempted rape and burglary today. 36-year-old Luke of North Philadelphia was arrested in January and charged with raping a University employee in her 41st and Spruce Street home on December 30. He was tried on that charge in August and was found not guilty. But after his arrest by University Police, the Philadelphia Police Sex Crimes division linked Luke to three other alleged sexual assaults near campus. "He's been doing this for years," said Assistant District Attorney Jeanette Synnestvedt. "I can call in every cop from the 18th [the University's district] and they know who he is. He's been preying upon that area for . . . two to three years." Prosecutors will try to show today that in 1988, Luke beat, robbed and attempted to rape a CHOP doctor in her home near campus. He is also charged with the attempted rape of a young woman walking home from a University event in May 1990 and the indecent assault of a disabled woman in the lobby of her apartment in December. And Assistant DA Synnestvedt said these charges are "just the tip of the iceberg." Luke, of the 1600 block of Cecil B. Moore Street, will be tried before a jury, which will be selected along with a trial judge today. If convicted of the attempted rape of the doctor, he could face five to 10 years in jail. Luke, born and raised in the Philadelphia housing projects, has been unable to make his $25,000 bail. Synnestvedt said Luke climbed up a tree to the second floor window of the CHOP doctor's house and attacked her as she stepped out of the shower. He pushed her to the ground and beat the naked woman, and then put his finger in her vagina, unzipped his pants, and positioned her to begin raping her, according to the district attorney. Synnestvedt said yesterday that the only thing that saved the doctor from being raped was that she told Luke she had AIDS. The woman, who does not have the disease, chased Luke out of the apartment to the second floor porch, from which he jumped to the ground. Police and prosecutors said the 36-year-old Luke also attacked a young woman late one rainy night in May 1990 while she was walking home from a University event. Luke followed the woman for "quite some distance," Synnestvedt said. "He said he wanted to have sex with her in crude language." The woman, who Synnestvedt says "got a good look at him," and eventually identified Luke in a line-up two or three months later, was able to fight off her attacker on the 4500 block of Locust Street. Luke is charged with attempted rape and related charges in this case. In a fourth case, the district attorney's office has charged Luke with the indecent assault and robbery of a disabled woman in the lobby of her apartment building. According to Philadelphia Police, the woman entered her room where Luke, who had followed her in, pulled a knife on her. He robbed her and then put his hands inside her shirt, according to Synnestvedt. Trials for the attempted rape of the young woman and the separate indecent assault will begin after the conclusion of tomorrow's attempted rape trial. Synnestvedt said that when police searched his apartment, they found "a warehouse" full of electronic equipment, including video cassette recorders, radios and televisions. Synnestvedt said that the cases must be tried separately because they are not similar enough in circumstances. University Police caught Luke after the alleged December 30 rape after detectives noticed similarities in how the woman's attacker entered her apartment and other attempted burglaries in the area. Police said her assailant climbed up her fire escape and came in through the window. Detectives showed the victim photos of Luke, who was arrested in November climbing on fire escapes, and she identified him as her attacker. The alleged victim broke down during the trial and failed to identify Luke as her attacker, but Sex Crimes detectives were able to charge Luke with the other assaults.
(09/20/91 9:00am)
Two University students were allegedy indecently assaulted Saturday, according to University and Philadelphia police officials. According to a Philadelphia Police spokesperson, the first incident occurred around 7:15 p.m. Saturday while a University student was walking her dog on the 4600 block of Pine student. A 6-foot 2-inch tall, 30-year-old black male, last seen wearing a white tank-top and blue shorts, ran up behind the student and grabbed her on the buttocks, according to police. Police said the attacker then hit the student in the face with his open hand and attempted to grab her breasts. The man reportedly fled the scene, and the student reported the incident to the Philadelphia Police department. The spokesperson said yesterday that Philadelphia Police are still investigating the assault, but have not arrested suspects in the incident. University Police responded to a second incident of indecent assault Saturday afternoon. In that incident, a female University student was allegedly indecently assaulted while visiting an off-campus physician's office, according to University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich. Kuprevich said the student reported the crime to the University through Victim Support Services. He added that the case was referred to the police yesterday. Kuprevich said that the the person accused of assaulting the student has been identified. University Police Lieutenant Susan Holmes said yesterday that University Police received a notation about the incident at 2:03 p.m. Saturday from Victim Support Services. The notation, according to Holmes, is confidential, although it says that an indecent assault took place at 1937 Chestnut Street.
(09/19/91 9:00am)
University and Philadelphia Police responded to a bomb scare in Hill House yesterday morning, only to find theatrical materials used to create smoke and noise on stage in a first-floor room, police said yesterday. A Philadelphia Police spokesperson said yesterday that the Philadelphia Bomb Squad removed two ounces of theatrical explosives from a suitcase after responding to a call of a "dangerous condition" at 10:10 a.m. At least a dozen emergency vehicles -- including two fire engines, a paramedics unit and a Philadelphia Police Bomb Squad van -- were called to the scene and blocked traffic on Walnut Street until noon. Christopher Dennis, director of educational programs in residences, said yesterday a graduate fellow had confiscated the explosives Monday night after they went off in a student's third floor room. Hill House officials contacted Residential Living Tuesday morning, but it was not until yesterday that the department decided to call in police. Engineering freshman Paul Yarin, the student from whose room the explosives were taken, said he was only experimenting with the chemicals and said the "bureaucracy" overreacted. "I was testing a theatrical pyrotechnic device, called a 'flashpot,' " Yarin said. Yarin said when he set the theatrical equipment off, his graduate fellow came and question him. He added he freely turned over the equipment and materials to the GF, and was surprised when he was pulled out of his computer science class yesterday by University and police officials. "I understand their concern and I feel that concern was justified," Yarin said. "But under the circumstances, they overreacted." The freshman said he is "not worried" about the fallout of this minor incident. A Philadelphia Police spokesperson said that Yarin was questioned but not arrested, and the investigation is continuing. Dennis said the case is being referred to the Hill House Judiciary Committee for investigation, and Residential Living will look to see if Yarin violated his rental agreement with the University.
(09/16/91 9:00am)
A University Police officer interrupted an attempted knifepoint robbery in front of the Quadrangle Saturday morning, according to University Police. Police also responded to two armed robbery reports and two burglary reports this weekend. According to Sergeant Lawrence Salotti, a man wearing dark clothing and weighing between 120 and 130 pounds threatened two female students with a knife outside the Quad's 37th Street gate at 1:02 a.m. Saturday. A University Police officer spotted the man, but before he could apprehend him, the man fled into the nearby subway entrance and escaped. Salotti said no one was injured and nothing was stolen. In a separate and unrelated incident, a student was robbed at gunpoint of his Schwinn Bicycle at 3:17 a.m. Saturday on Beige Block. Police said a man wearing a blue jacket and dark cap robbed the student on 41st Street between Locust and Walnut streets. The suspect was described as a 5-foot 7-inch tall man, weighing 130 pounds. He reportedly fled north on 41st Street. University Police responded to a second armed robbery at 1:48 a.m. Saturday. A Drexel University student reported being robbed at the point of a .22 caliber handgun on the 4200 block of Pine Street by two men, one of which was a 6-foot 2-inch, 27- or 28-year-old man with short hair, wearing a black nylon jogging suit, according to Salotti. The unarmed second suspect was described as being six feet tall and was last seen wearing a yellow shirt. Salotti said the man stole a small amount of cash and left the Drexel student unharmed. Two doors of Hollenbach Center, the University's Reserve Officer Training Corps center, were apparently shattered by BB pellets, according to police. Nothing was stolen or tampered with, police said yesterday.
(09/16/91 9:00am)
A man robbing a house on Chestnut Street inhabited by University students "thought he could fly," Craig Hollerman said yesterday. The Wharton senior, who lives in the house, said when his friends found the man robbing a third-floor room at 8:22 p.m. Friday, they yelled at him to stop. "Some black dude climbed up a tree, broke into the third floor, and took two CD players," College senior Chris Busconi said. "He ran down the hallway and jumped out of the window with the players in hand." The man survived the 35 to 40 foot drop to the alley behind the house with two broken ankles, Busconi said. "He broke both his ankles, but miraculously the CD players were unharmed," the resident added. "We and the police found him crawling down the alley." Hollerman mused, "I think he was on crack or something." University Police Sergeant Lawrence Salotti said yesterday that police responding to the burglary report found the man with broken ankles in the alley. The house, located at 3721 Chestnut Street, has been burglarized seven times during the past two years the students have lived there, residents said. "We asked the landlord to put bars on the windows [when the crimes first occurred]." Busconi said, adding the house was robbed the week after the bars were installed. The students then asked the landlord to put bars on the inside of the windows, and for the past year and a half, there have been no incidents. Hollerman said that several bicycles have been stolen during the past summer, but that no one has been injured or threatened. Busconi said he has chased away several people who he caught throwing bottles at his house and this semester he caught one man "chiseling" at a side door to the kitchen.
(09/16/91 9:00am)
A College junior collapsed Saturday afternoon in the Gimbel Gymnasium weightroom while he was exercising and was listed in satisfactory condition at HUP last night, University officials said this weekend. According to John Henrich, assistant director of recreation, the student completed some exercises, known as lat-pulldowns, took several steps and collapsed for reasons that are still unknown. Four men in the room ran to the gymnasium office and reported the incident to Henrich, who went to assist the student. Henrich said he reached the weightroom to find the student incoherent, but still breathing. Henrich said he ran back to his office to call University Police and rescue squads, and when he returned to the collapsed man, two other men, claiming to be University doctors, were performing CPR on the student. Henrich said the doctors, and another man from the swim team, performed the cardio-pulmonary recitation on the junior until emergency medical workers arrived. According to a HUP spokesperson, the student's condition has since been upgraded to satisfactory. University officials said doctors at HUP are performing tests on the student.
(09/13/91 9:00am)
Three friends of the three men accused of killing pre-med student Robert Janke testified against their friends at a preliminary hearing yesterday, with one saying he saw the shooting clearly. In addition, Giovanni Reed, one of the men charged in the August 10 murder, has been harassing and intimidating the witnesses, Assistant District Attorney Arlene Fisk charged. At the hearing, held in a City Hall courtroom, Fisk said Reed and his family and friends have "approached and intimidated" witnesses that say they saw the 16-year-old take money from Janke an instant after the student was shot in the head. Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Lydia Kirkland ordered Reed and the two other men to be held without bail in Janke's murder after their lawyers declined to ask her to set it. She also issued a similar order for Chester Hollman, the 21-year-old accused of participating in the August 20 shooting death of Tae Jung Ho, an University English student. In Hollman's hearing, Kirkland declined to set bail because he faces capital charges. Family members, friends, reporters and other observers packed the "secure" homicide courtroom -- guarded by a metal detector and several officers -- and heard testimony from three friends of Reed and co-defendants Carlton Bennett and Dwayne Bennett, who are cousins. According to testimony from Dwahn Bennett, Richard King, and Tyrone Macky, the six friends were walking in the area of 17th and South streets when they saw Janke standing by a public phone. Macky testified that he, King, and Dwahn Bennett were walking a block ahead of the three defendants when they heard a gunshot. Macky turned to see Dwayne Bennett holding Janke by the collar and pointing a gun at the victim's temple. Carlton Bennett stood next to the University student as Dwayne lowered Janke to the ground and Reed searched his pockets, Macky testified. A shaken Macky was repeatedly told by Judge Kirkland to speak up as he sat through nearly an hour's worth of questioning by Fisk and three defense attorneys. The most disturbing part of the testimony came as Macky recounted a conversation he had with Dwayne Bennett minutes after the murder back at his mother's house. When Macky asked Dwayne "why he did it," Dwayne responded, "That's just me, that's just me. What're you gonna do, shoot me?" Macky testified that Reed, his friend of two years, lost the $6 he stole from Janke while fleeing the murder scene. The six men, all Philadelphia residents, had not been taking drugs, nor were they intoxicated, according to Macky, who stressed that he, King, and Dwahn Bennett had separated from the three attackers. The three defense attorneys each attempted to create doubt that their clients had actually been involved in the incident, and also attempted to implicate King, Dwahn Bennett and Macky in the shooting. Barbara McDermott, Dwayne Bennett's lawyer, asked if her client had gently laid down the mortally wounded Janke. District Attorney Fisk immediately objected, saying that after shooting someone, a murderer's actions cannot be considered "gentle." Judge Kirkpatrick sustained the objection. Janke's father, also named Robert, groaned softly when he heard McDermott's question. Next, 27-year-old Richard King testified that, while walking a block ahead of Dwayne Bennett, he turned around just in time to watch Dwayne pull the trigger, killing Janke. King said, after shooting Janke, Dwayne turned to his two accomplices, saying, "that's the way you do it." Fisk, after the hearing, accused Dwayne Bennett of "conducting Robbery 101 for the benefit of his accomplices," adding that the murder "was a vicious, violent assault." The second hearing, delayed several hours while court officials transported the defendant from the detention center, included testimony from two witnesses to Ho's August 20 murder near the corner of 22nd and Walnut streets. Lone defendant Chester Hollman, charged as an accomplice in the robbery and murder, was dressed in a grey tweed sport jacket and sat emotionless as a friend, another witness and Ho's girlfriend -- also a University student -- testified that he helped kill Ho. Jun Ko Nichei, speaking through a Japanese translater, told the court that she and Ho were walking south on 22nd Street when they were attacked from behind by two "black men." Nichei could only identify the attackers as "two black men," and said that she and Ho were pushed to the ground. Ho was held by the feet by one attacker, who police say was Hollman, while a second man held him by the shoulders and eventually shot him in the chest, according to Nichei's testimony. Hollman's friend, Diedre Jones, testified that she, Hollman, and another man and woman traveled through Center City in the late hours of August 20 because they were "bored." Police are still searching for the man and the woman, according to Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron. According to Jones, she and her friends frequently drove throughout the city, but Hollman said that night they were "going to get somebody." She said when she asked the North Philadelphia resident what he meant, Hollman responded, "We're going to stick somebody up." A reluctant witness, Jones finally explained that she and the other woman waited in a white Ford Ranger while Hollman and his friend got out of the car to confront Ho and his girlfriend. Jones said she turned when she heard the gunshot and saw Hollman running away from the scene, towards her and the woman driving the car. A convenience store worker, Andre Dawkins, testified that he passed Hollman and the shooter on the street minutes before the attack and later saw a gun flash from behind the vehicle as the shooter killed Ho. According to Dawkins, Ho screamed to the attackers, "take what you want, just don't hurt us." Dawkins, when pressed by defense attorney George Newman, seemed confused about the direction the two men were running after the shooting, but remained adamant that he was telling the truth. After brief closing arguments by both attorneys, Judge Kirkland found that the Commonwealth had presented enough evidence to continue its case. Newman asked for bail to be set at $100,000 since Hollman has strong ties to the community and no prior convictions. After an hour-long in-chambers meeting, Kirkland denied bail, explaining that Hollman is facing capital charges with aggravating circumstances. Kirkland scheduled arraignments for Hollman, and the three defendants in the Janke murder, for 9 a.m. October 3 in courtroom 646 at City Hall.
(09/13/91 9:00am)
A 12 or 13-year-old girl attempted to rob a University student with a butter knife Wednesday night, University Police said yesterday. According to Lieutenant Susan Holmes, the girl approached the student at 9:23 p.m. on 33rd Street between Walnut and Spruce streets and demanded money. When the student pushed her away, the girl ran off. She was described as a dark-complected, five-foot-tall girl with dark hair, wearing a green shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes. University Police also responded to four burglaries on Wednesday. Holmes said in one of the incidents, a suspect broke through a "flimsy" wall between an apartment and a hallway at 329 South 42nd Street at 7:30 p.m. She said the burglar stole electronic equipment including a radio, answering machine and television. The student owner reported that over $2000 worth of equipment was stolen. University Police received another report of a burglary at 4008 Pine Street at 6:48, in which a University student said a man, claiming to work for the landlord, stole a watch and a walkman. The six-foot-tall man was described as having a thin build, dark complection, afro haircut and wearing a baseball cap, tee shirt, and slacks. University Police arrested a suspect in the third burglary of the night at a 4109 Walnut Street apartment. According to Holmes, a University student called police at 10:30 p.m., reporting that he heard noises on the roof of his house. Police responded to another report of burglary at 501 South 42nd Street at 11:35 p.m. Wednesday. Holmes said she did not know what happened but various items were stolen.
(04/25/91 9:00am)
The search committee for the replacement for School of Arts and Sciences Dean Hugo Sonnenschein may be working a little behind schedule. Committee Chairperson Lawrence Bernstein, a music professor, said this week that it is possible the committee will not have its short list -- the list of finalists from which the president and provost will select the new dean -- before Sonnenschein leaves for Princeton University this summer. Assistant SAS Dean Walter Wales, who served as an interim SAS Dean before Sonnenschein's arrival, has been appointed Acting-Dean and will take over on July 1. The committee, charged by President Sheldon Hackney in February, was urged at the time by many faculty and administrators to come up with a short list before Sonnenschein leaves. "We don't have a deadline," Bernstein said in February. "But it's clear that if it's possible, [the committee] should have the nominations by the time Dean Sonnenschein leaves." Bernstein said this week that it is "likely" the committee will not have a short-list prepared by the end of the academic year. He added that "there is just no way of knowing how long it will take [to form a short list]." Bernstein said the committee has been meeting twice a week since February and has received "dozens" of applications and nominations. Bernstein added that the committee will step-up its search after classes end. Bernstein added that candidates under consideration are both from within and outside the University. Several faculty have said this semester that the search should be concentrated in the University. They said an outsider will have to adjust to the administration of a new school, but a candidate from within SAS will be able to maintain the continuity in the school. "We are certainly scrutinizing very carefully people within the University," Bernstein said, adding that at the same time the president and provost have asked the committee to include outsiders in the search.
(04/24/91 9:00am)
The search committee for the replacement for School of Arts and Sciences Dean Hugo Sonnenschein may be working a little behind schedule. Committee Chairperson Lawrence Bernstein, a music professor, said this week that it is possible the committee will not have its short list -- the list of finalists from which the president and provost will select the new dean -- before Sonnenschein leaves for Princeton University this summer. Assistant SAS Dean Walter Wales, who served as an interim SAS Dean before Sonnenschein's arrival, has been appointed Acting-Dean and will take over on July 1. The committee, charged by President Sheldon Hackney in February, was urged at the time by many faculty and administrators to come up with a short list before Sonnenschein leaves. "We don't have a deadline," Bernstein said in February. "But it's clear that if it's possible, [the committee] should have the nominations by the time Dean Sonnenschein leaves." Bernstein said this week that it is "likely" the committee will not have a short-list prepared by the end of the academic year. He added that "there is just no way of knowing how long it will take [to form a short list]." Bernstein said the committee has been meeting twice a week since February and has received "dozens" of applications and nominations. Bernstein added that the committee will step-up its search after classes end. Bernstein added that candidates under consideration are both from within and outside the University. Several faculty have said this semester that the search should be concentrated in the University. They said an outsider will have to adjust to the administration of a new school, but a candidate from within SAS will be able to maintain the continuity in the school. "We are certainly scrutinizing very carefully people within the University," Bernstein said, adding that at the same time the president and provost have asked the committee to include outsiders in the search.
(04/12/91 9:00am)
The class of 1995 is the least selective admissions class in at least a decade and has the highest admittance rate of all Ivy League schools, according to figures released yesterday by Associate Dean for Admissions Christoph Guttentag. A drop in applications by 850 high school students and a 55-person increase in the number of students admitted yielded an admissions rate of nearly 47 percent, by far the highest in the Ivies. This is the fourth straight year the rate has increased. Despite the declining number of applications, Guttentag maintained yesterday that the quality of the class is the same, if not slightly better, than last year's class. Guttentag would not release the average SAT score of the class, saying only it is comparable with last year's. "[The SAT scores] appear to tell more than they do," Guttentag said. "There is absolutely no significant difference between this and last year's average SAT scores." The Admissions Department was "pleased" that such a small applicant pool could yield such a qualified class, Guttentag said. Guttentag blamed the change on a declining number of 18-year-olds nationwide. He said this caused the applicant pool to drop from 10,650 last year to about 9,800 this year. "To a certain extent it reflects the overall decline in the number of 18-year-olds," Guttentag said. The University accepted 4,580 students to the class of 1995 class and expects 2,250 to matriculate. Last year, the University admitted near 42 percent of the applicants compared with 40.6 percent in 1989 and 35 percent in 1988. Every Ivy League school has a significantly lower admittance rate than the University with Brown University admitting 23 percent, Columbia University 32 percent, Cornell University 31 percent, Dartmouth University 25 percent, Harvard University 17 percent, Princeton University 16 percent and Yale University 21 percent. In fact, the University's admittance rate was twice Brown's and almost three times higher than Princeton's. The University's size is one reason it has a higher admissions rate. With the exception of Cornell, the University is the largest and most comprehensive school in the Ivies. In order to maintain a low admittance percentage, it would need a far greater number of applicants than any of the other Ivies. "We have a smaller applicant pool, a class that is the same size, a matriculaiton yield that's the same, and a class that is the second largest of the Ivies," Guttentag said last night. In addition, the increase in total admissions failed to bolster the representation of minority students in the class. The University admitted 35 fewer black students and 20 fewer hispanics than last year. Guttentag stressed that despite the drop in the raw number of hispanic and black admits, the University accepted a higher percentage of the pool of black and hispanic applicants. "As long as I've been here we have made a consistent and concerted effort to get both as strong and as diverse an applicant pool as we can," Guttentag said. "We are always looking for ways to do more." A cause of the decrease in the applicant pool is the economic strain of a $24,000 school. Especially among less affluent minorities, the cost of an expensive university has scared off students who otherwise would have been qualified, according to adminssions officials. The cancellation of the New England Overlap Group meeting this year, in which several highly competitive schools including the University have met to discuss financial aid distribution, may have affected this year's pool, Guttentag admitted. "The chances of any given applicant who has applied to more than one overlap school. . . getting different financial aid awards increases," Guttentag said. "Will it affect matriculation rates?" Guttentag asked. "Maybe, but we don't have any history to go on." The University has kept the projected class size the same for the last two years despite the decline in college-age students, in part, for economic reasons. One reason for the stable class size is that the University needs the annual revenue a stable class size will provide. For a research institution of its size, the University has a small endowment and therefore depends heavily upon tuition payments for capital. Guttentag added last night that while students may be alarmed with the numbers, "quality is not a function of selectivity."
