911... Not just for emergencies in Philly.

__________________
I went to the territory to renew my supply of stories.

Elbow Room
----James Alan McPherson

Saw this in the DP. Speaking of which, my court dates are coming up in a couple weeks.

Police nab two tied to string of robberies
crime roundup
By andrew whitney
October 20, 2005



Two 14-year-olds ended a crime spree unsuccessfully when Penn Police arrested them last week.

They allegedly attempted three robberies near Baltimore Avenue -- including one of a Penn graduate student -- in fewer than eight minutes.

At about 10:22 p.m. on the night of Oct. 12, two plainclothes officers observed a "strong-arm robbery" -- meaning that suspects used force but not weapons -- outside 4206 Baltimore Ave.

The officers saw three juveniles going through the pockets of a 23-year-old male University of the Sciences student who was accompanied by a 23-year-old woman.

After the police identified themselves, the suspects fled and a foot pursuit ensued. Officers captured one suspect at 500 S. 43rd St. and another near the intersection of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue. The third was not caught.

Once the two suspects were in custody, police received another report. A 25-year-old male Penn graduate student reported that at about 10:20 p.m., three juveniles had attempted to rob him on the 500 block of Woodland Terrace. The descriptions of the perpetrators in that case matched those from the Baltimore Avenue robbery that occurred just minutes later.

In the attempted robbery of the Penn graduate student, the suspects allegedly approached the victim, grabbed his bike and punched him in the head. The victim was ultimately able to escape with his bike.

Shortly afterward, police were notified of an attempted robbery that occurred at about 10:15 p.m. very near to where the two subsequent crimes would take place.

In this incident, a 19-year-old University of the Sciences student was approached by three juveniles -- also matching the descriptions from the other two crimes -- who demanded money.

When their demand was not met, the would-be robbers punched the victim.

None of the victims in any of the attempted robberies sustained serious injury or required hospitalization. All three positively identified the two 14-year-olds that police had taken into custody.

University Police turned the case over to the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detective Division because the incidents occurred outside Penn Police jurisdiction.

Detectives said they are close to identifying the third assailant and may soon have a warrant for his arrest.

The suspects, whose names are not being released because they are minors, face a slew of charges, including at least three counts each of attempted robbery. The boys are from West Philadelphia.

Two robberies also occurred near campus this weekend. One involved a Penn student, and the other involved a gun.

The first crime occurred at about midnight Friday as a 23-year-old male -- who is unaffiliated with Penn -- entered his home in the unit block of South 42nd Street.

While on his porch, the victim was approached from behind by a black male, about 20 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 180 pounds, with a dark complexion and a goatee. The robber reportedly wore a green beanie hat, black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and black boots.

The robber showed a handgun and said, "Where's the dough?"

The gunman went room-to-room inside the home, bringing the victim with him.

Ultimately, the robber got away with a cell phone and $40. He fled on foot in an unknown direction.

The victim was uninjured.

A second robbery occurred Saturday night at about 11:15 p.m. on the 3900 block of Irving Street.

The victim -- an 18-year-old male Penn freshman -- was tackled from behind as he walked with a friend.

As the victim lay on the ground, the robber pushed a hard object -- which the victim took to be a gun -- against the victim's back. The robber -- described as a man in his late teens or early 20s with close-cropped hair wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans -- escaped with $6, debit cards and identification from the victim's wallet.

3 robbers stab man near 42nd and Walnut
By andrew whitney
October 24, 2005



Three robbers stabbed a man in the leg three times early Thursday morning in a robbery near 42nd and Walnut streets and ran away with small change.

At about 12:40 a.m., police received a report indicating that a man had been stabbed.

They arrived to find a 54-year-old homeless man with three stab wounds to the thigh.

The victim said that three young men approached him and demanded money.

When he refused, one of the assailants exposed a knife and lunged at him, stabbing him three times.

The robbers got away with the change in the victim's pockets.

Philadelphia Fire Department paramedics transported the victim to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment of the stab wounds.

He was admitted in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police are investigating whether robbery was the true motive behind the attack and if there may have been some type of verbal altercation that precipitated the stabbing and robbery.

In a separate incident, a Penn undergraduate was knocked to the ground in a robbery that occurred only minutes earlier at the intersection of 36th and Market streets.

At about 12:15 a.m., a 22-year-old male Penn senior was walking west on Market Street when he was knocked to the ground from behind by two men.

The assailants demanded the victim's wallet and he complied, turning over the wallet, which contained credit cards, $18 cash and identification.

In addition, the robbers took the victim's iPod digital music player, valued at $300.

The victim described one robber as a man, 5 feet 11 inches tall with a slim build and dark complexion. He reportedly wore a light-colored hooded sweatshirt.

The second assailant is described as a male with a medium complexion, a medium build and a beard.

No injuries resulted from the robbery and assault. Police have not made any arrests in connection with the case.

Alumnus robbed of $60 near Harrison
By andrew whitney
October 25, 2005



Six youths, one of whom was brandishing a brick, threatened a 20-year-old male Penn alumnus early Sunday evening near Harrison College House and robbed him of $60.

The crime occurred around 6 p.m. as the victim walked on the 3900 block of Irving Street.

The juveniles, all of whom are described as about 15 years old, surrounded the alumnus and demanded his wallet.

One, wearing a black coat, black jeans and a black and gray skull cap, wielded a brick and threatened to strike the victim if he did not surrender the wallet.

The victim, who was not injured, complied.

After he surrendered the wallet -- which contained the cash, credit cards and identification -- the attackers ran west on Irving Street.

A passerby recovered the wallet, without the cash, later that evening on the 200 block of South 40th Street and turned it over to police.

Police have not made any arrests in the case.

In a separate incident, a 17-year-old male Penn freshman was injured early Saturday morning in an assault.

The student was walking south on the unit block of South 34th Street at about 2:15 a.m. when a man punched him once in the face and fled.

No theft was reported in connection with the attack.

The student sought treatment Saturday afternoon at Penn's Student Health Service for minor facial injuries.

The incident was not reported to police until Saturday afternoon. Police have made no arrests in the case and have not uncovered any motive for the attack.

I guess the race of the attackers (though it's obvious) is too PC for the Mr. Whitney to mention.

Don't worry about being PC. I have NEVER heard about a white perp
commiting any of these street crimes in UC and I've been dealing with UC since the early 70s.

I'm black so I don't bother caling me racist.

whaaaaaa?

Woman robbed at 40th and Walnut St.
By andrew whitney
October 27, 2005



A brazen evening robbery on the 4000 block of Walnut Street that occurred at about 9:15 p.m. yesterday left a young woman shaken and bruised and several witnesses shocked.

Wharton senior Raymond Win said that he and fellow Wharton senior Michael Faridi were walking east on the south side of Walnut Street when they heard a female voice screaming.

They looked across the street to see two young men struggling with a young woman, who was lying on the ground in front of the Delta Upsilon fraternity house.

As the seniors approached, the assailants ran toward them, and one reached into his pocket as if to draw a gun. One of the assailants was carrying a purse, Win said.

The students ran to the side, and the attackers fled west on Walnut Street.

As they did so, a University City District safety ambassador approached the scene on his bicycle, unaware of the events that had just transpired.

Faridi said one of the assailants had told the UCD ambassador that there had been a robbery down the street.

Others in the area told the guard that the "witness" had actually committed the robbery, and the UCD ambassador gave chase.

Faridi said that the attackers reached the corner of 41st and Walnut streets and turned right, escaping in a waiting vehicle.

When Win and Faridi reached the young woman, they found her upset and slightly injured. She said that she had been punched in the right eye.

"She was pretty disheveled," Faridi said.

Win said that the victim -- whom he and Faridi believed to be a Penn undergraduate -- did not seem to be seriously injured but was very distraught.

The students described the attackers as under 20 years of age.

University Police confirmed that an incident did indeed take place but would release no further details last night. They said that the investigation is ongoing.

"It's pretty shocking and surreal," Faridi said. "It's scary that at 9 p.m., you can't even be safe." "It seemed like [the attackers] don't even consider Penn security a concern," he added.

Campus crime may be part of city trend
Penn Police say Wed. robbery may link to several near Drexel
By andrew whitney
October 28, 2005



University Police detectives believe that Wednesday evening's robbery on the 4000 block of Walnut Street is part of a larger pattern of crime emerging in Philadelphia.

Penn Police Chief Mark Dorsey said that last night's robbery on Walnut Street that left a young female shaken seems to share key characteristics with crimes that have been committed elsewhere in the city.

He added that he kept some personnel at work late Wednesday night to devote extra resources to solving the robbery.

In addition, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said that she and other safety officials have been in contact with the Philadelphia Police Department's Major Crimes Unit to examine possible connections to other crimes in the city. She said the efforts have produced several promising leads.

Dorsey believes that the communication with Philadelphia Police detectives has allowed law enforcement to begin closing in on the robbers.

Penn Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Mike Morrin said that there is reason to believe that Wednesday's robbery may be linked to several that have occurred near Drexel University in recent months. Morrin has been in contact with Drexel officials, and a warrant has reportedly been issued for one suspect in the attacks near that campus.

Penn detectives are examining the possibility that this suspect or a friend may be responsible for the attack on Walnut Street.

In the incident, a 25-year-old Drexel graduate student parked her car at about 9:20 p.m. on the 4000 block of Walnut Street and retrieved several items from the vehicle's trunk. Two men demanded that she give them her purse, which she refused to do.

A struggle ensued, during which the victim was knocked to the ground and punched just below the right eye. She reportedly tried to kick her attackers and screamed, attracting the attention of several passers-by and a Penn security guard patrolling on a bike nearby. The guard reached the scene within seconds.

The two assailants and a third man fled west on Walnut Street, then north on 41st Street, where they got into an older sedan -- possibly maroon in color -- that sped west on Sansom Street past 42nd Street, where it was last seen.

The first robber is described by police as a man in his early 20s, 5 feet 10 to 11 inches tall with an average build, wearing dark clothing that included a hooded sweatshirt.

Witnesses described the second attacker as a male in his early 20s, about six feet tall with an average build, an oval-shaped face and short hair who was wearing a dark sweatshirt and lighter pants. The victim -- who was reportedly in the neighborhood to visit her boyfriend -- did not seek medical treatment for her injuries.

Frustrated police move to combat crime
13 robberies or assaults reported near campus in 16 days; Police put more officers on street
By andrew whitney
October 28, 2005



The Penn campus and the rest of Philadelphia have seen an increase in robberies and assaults -- particularly by juveniles and young adults -- over the past several weeks.

Most recently, a Drexel student was robbed at about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday night on the 4000 block of Walnut Street. This crime marked the 13th robbery or assault inside the University Police Department's jurisdiction in the past 16 days, according to police records. Although numbers for the same period last year were not immediately available, 98 such incidents occurred in all of 2004.

Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush is confident that several response measures -- along with previously planned initiatives -- can help stem the increase in criminal activity.

This summer, Penn allocated an additional $1 million toward increasing hours for security personnel to patrol the streets. Also this summer, Penn Police implemented a "power shift," Chief of Police Mark Dorsey said, that put more officers on the streets during the night hours when crimes most commonly occur.

Millions of dollars have been spent in recent years to install 74 panoramic tilt-and-zoom surveillance cameras, in addition to more than 200 fixed-position cameras. Overall, Penn spends roughly $23 million each year on security. But despite the best efforts of the police, criminals have continued to prey on the Penn community, which has incensed Rush.

"It's hard to communicate the level of anger that I feel, considering everything we have been doing," Rush said. "We will not rest until this community feels and is safe."

Along those lines, she said, several changes will go into effect immediately. Even more money will go toward overtime for Penn Police officers and more hours for guards employed by subcontractor AlliedBarton Security. No exact figures are available at this time. Dorsey said that security guards will be assigned to smaller, targeted geographic areas.

The Division of Public Safety may also revive Penn Watch, a town-watch program that debuted in the mid-1990s.

The program trains community members to be more alert to crime and report incidents more rapidly to the police.

As crime fell, however, interest waned and the program fell apart. While students would be invited to participate in the program, the effort targets the community's permanent residents.

Rush hopes to get that program up and running again, by providing equipment, like radios, to those involved.

"We will invite merchants to be eyes and ears for the Penn community," Rush said.

She also intends to work with Penn's student government and community organizations to plan meetings in which people can have their concerns addressed by safety personnel. The division also recently purchased two electric golf carts that will patrol Locust Walk from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. Domenic Ceccanecchio, Penn's director of security and technical services, said that the carts -- staffed by AlliedBarton employees -- will increase the visibility of Penn's security force.