Three students fended off a group of about seven attempted robbers Friday, marking the third unsuccessful robbery in the month of February.
The students were walking to a bus stop on Berwyn House Road just before midnight when a group of six or seven males approached, according to a crime alert sent out yesterday by University Police. One of the suspects asked “Who’s got the money?” before a struggle ensued. The attempted robbers ultimately fled without any stolen property, said Assistant District 1 Commander Cpt. Daniel Lipsey.
The attempted muggers are described as black males between the ages of 16 and 19, wearing dark, hooded sweatshirts and dark pants. A few of them had dreadlocks, both Lipsey and the crime alert said. Lipsey added the description was fairly good in this case and added that in snap incidents such as these, a thorough, detailed or specific description is usually hard to come by. Because police wanted to first follow some investigative leads, the crime alert was delayed a few days, Lipsey said.
Despite being outnumbered, the students, who Lipsey said were “a pretty good size,” were able to fend off the attempted robbers and did not hand over any money or possessions. Police said none of the victims were injured during the attack.
Because of the large group of attackers, Lipsey said gang involvement is a possibility, but unlikely.
“There was nothing that indicated to us that it was gang-related,” he said.
Three failed robbery attempts occurred last month, though the events are probably not connected, Lipsey said: Each happened in different areas, under different circumstances and the suspect descriptions were not similar.
On Feb. 4, an intoxicated male witnessed a fight on College Avenue and was approached and forced to give up his cell phone at knife-point. Once the suspect ran, the victim’s cell phone was returned by a witness.
On Feb. 20, two men attempted to rob a student in the lobby of his building on Adelphi Road before fleeing when someone interrupted the encounter.
Lipsey said the economy may have played a role in the spate of attempted robberies and may continue to play a part in future crimes of this nature.
“I’m sure the economy has a part in this but it’s not the complete excuse,” Lipsey said. “We’ve adjusted accordingly to meet the trends that we see on a daily basis.”
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