UPDATE: Per a TU Alert issued around 9:50 p.m. Friday, Philadelphia police had arrested three females in connection with the robberies.
Temple and Philadelphia police searched this evening for two suspects in connection with the robbery of a female Temple student around 4 p.m. today in the parking lot of Progress Plaza on the corner of Broad and Oxford streets.
Charlie Leone, executive director of Campus Safety Services, said in an email that the two suspects, armed with a box cutter, approached the student and fled with her bag, which contained an iPad and $300. The student was not injured.
The entire incident happened in about 15 seconds and was captured by security cameras, Leone said. Temple Police have reviewed the footage and confirmed that the suspects were the same people from yesterday’s attempted robberies, he said.
Around 4 p.m. yesterday, a female described by police as around 18 years old and 5 feet 3 inches tall struggled for a bag with a female around 20-24 years old before slicing her arm and forehead with a box cutter.
The attempted robbery occurred in the 1400 block of Diamond Street and was followed by another on the 1500 block of North Broad Street. The victim from the Diamond Street incident, who is not affiliated with Temple, was sent to Hahnemann University Hospital and was not seriously injured.
Leone said the suspects in both Thursday and Friday’s incidents drove a 2005 white Buick LaCrosse with a sunroof and the license plate number JRH-9730.
According to a TU Alert which was sent out about today’s incident shortly before 4:30 p.m., the suspects fled west on Oxford Street in that car.
After today’s robbery, Temple Police sent a description of the suspects and their vehicle city-wide through the Philadelphia Police communication center, Leone said. Temple and Philadelphia police are currently collaborating to arrest the suspects.
Bystanders in the area said they were not aware of the robbery.
A security guard at Fresh Grocer who wished to remain anonymous also said he was unaware of the robbery.
“If there’s two armed robberies in the area, I don’t understand why it’s not on the news, or why there isn’t more security around here,” he said.
Lian Parsons can be reached at lian.parsons@temple.edu or on Twitter @LIan_Parsons.
