Tag Archives: robbery

Police investigating robbery near Main Campus last night

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Temple Police is investigating an armed robbery of a student that occurred at 15th Street and Susquehanna Avenue last night.

Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said in an email that the student was walking west on Susquehanna Avenue, when the suspect approached him from behind at 9:45 p.m.

Leone said the offender pulled a small silver handgun on the student, and told him to empty his pockets. He then took the student’s iPhone and fled west on Susquehanna Avenue and then turned north onto 16th Street.

A TU Alert was sent out at around 10:30 p.m. No injures were reported.

The suspect was described as a 15- to 18-year-old male, about 5 feet 7 inches tall. He was last seen wearing a light blue and white flannel shirt and white T-shirt.

Temple Police is patrolling the area and checking nearby cameras, Leone said. Anybody with information about the incident is encouraged to contact Campus Safety Services at 215-204-1234.

Steve Bohnel can be reached at steven.bohnel@temple.edu or on Twitter @Steve_Bohnel.

Students robbed near 16th and Oxford streets

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Two students were robbed on 16th and Oxford streets around 8:45 p.m. Sunday, police said.

The students were walking on Oxford Street towards 16th Street and were approached by a male who displayed a handgun, Charlie Leone, executive director of Campus Safety Services said in an email. No injuries were reported.

Two cellphones and a wallet were taken. The suspect then fled west on Oxford Street, Leone said. He is described as thin, with a mustache, wearing a dark jacket over a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Lian Parsons can be reached at lian.parsons@temple.edu or on Twitter @Lian_Parsons.

2 suspects sought in robbery of student at off-campus apartment

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A 23-year-old student and 21-year-old former student were robbed and attacked in the basement of an apartment on the 1800 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue around 9:45 p.m. Monday, police said.

Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said in an email that there is an ongoing search for two suspects who were armed with a gun and a knife and struck the former student in the head. Surveillance footage from local businesses and surrounding properties is being checked, he said.

Police found drug paraphernalia and are also investigating possible marijuana usage in the apartment, Leone said.

“The place may be known to have parties that increased risk for this directed crime,” Leone said.

Two cell phones and a Sony Playstation system were taken. The complainants were taken to Philadelphia police’s Central Detective Division.

The former student initially denied medical attention, but was taken for evaluation at Temple University Hospital, Leone said.
Lian Parsons can be reached at lian.parsons@temple.edu or @Lian_Parsons on Twitter.

Two suspects sought in robbery on Berks Street

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Philadelphia and Temple police are searching for two male suspects in connection with an armed robbery which occurred on the 1600 block of Berks Street around 10:30 p.m. yesterday, police said.

Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said in an email that a non-Temple-affiliated male was turning onto Berks Street from Willington Street to retrieve items from his vehicle when the suspects approached him and brandished weapons.

The suspects obtained two iPhones before fleeing north down 16th Street in a red sedan, driven by a third male, Leone said. The victim told police that one suspect wore a blue hoodie and the other was wearing orange running shoes.

Detectives from Temple Police are working with Philadelphia police to review security camera footage from the area and search for potential witnesses, Leone said.

A TU Alert was sent out about the incident around 11:00 p.m. which encouraged anyone with information to call 911. The alert said the incident occurred on the 1800 block of Willington Street since the victim was turning off that block onto Berks Street, Leone said.

UPDATE: Leone said the suspects may have been involved in a robbery of three students which occurred near 18th and Diamond streets on Nov. 12 around 11:10 p.m. One suspect from the Nov. 12 robbery ran past the students walking east on Diamond Street and turned around and pointed a gun at them.

The students dropped their bags and cell phones on the ground, and the suspects fled east towards Broad Street in a dark-colored sedan that was parked, Leone said.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@temple.edu or on Twitter @JBrandt_TU.

Temple student robbed in Progress Plaza parking lot

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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.

Anderson Hall robber sentenced to 17-35 years

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The man who beat and robbed an Intellectual Heritage professor in his Anderson Hall office last October will face 17 to 35 years in prison, according to court documents.

Darryl Moon, 46 of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and robbery in a June hearing. He received his sentence yesterday, and today the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County released Moon’s criminal docket.

Moon entered Anderson on Oct. 29, 2013 and went up to the Intellectual Heritage offices on the second floor. He punched the victim in the face, demanding his wallet before putting a knife to the professor’s throat, according to a post on the Philadelphia Police website. After obtaining the wallet, Moon hit the victim again.

The 81-year-old professor suffered lacerations to his face and head in addition to swelling and bleeding in his brain. He is not scheduled to teach classes this semester.

A security camera caught Moon leaving Anderson through the second floor mezzanine doors, which were sealed off this summer to improve security.

Philadelphia police arrested Moon on Oct. 31.

Temple student assaulted off Main Campus, Police say

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By Marcus McCarthy

Police released a surveillance video of five men they said assaulted a Temple student just off Main Campus on the 1800 block of Berks Street around 11:50 p.m. on May 5.

In the video, the Philadelphia police said that a 20-year-old male who was a student at the university was walking through an alley when he was approached from behind by five unknown males. The student was struck on the back of the head by two of the unknown men then beat up once on the ground, the police said. The men proceeded to take the student’s cellphone.

The student was taken to Temple University Hospital where he was treated for a dislocated right shoulder, scrapes and a bloody nose.

The footage in the video, taken by a security camera on the corner of Berks and 18th streets, shows five men walking south on 18th Street.

Anyone with information are asked to call the Philadelphia police at 215-686-8477.

Marcus McCarthy can be reached at marcus.mccarthy@temple.edu or on Twitter @marcusmccarthy6.

Police look for armed robber near campus

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Police responded to a robbery report near the intersection of 18th Street and Montgomery Avenue around 2:20 a.m. on Dec. 10, according to a police statement released earlier today.

The complainant, a 37-year-old male, said he was on the 1000 block of North Columbus Boulevard when he entered a burgundy vehicle with another man that drove to the North Philadelphia location.

A third man then entered the back of the vehicle and placed what he felt to be a gun to the back of the complainant’s head demanding the complainant’s wallet, phone, and sun glasses, the complainant said.

He complied with the man then fled the scene. The Philadelphia Police are still looking for the driver and third man as suspects. They ask for anyone with knowledge of the incident to call at 215-686-8477 or submit an anonymous tip at online.

Police looking for robbery suspects in Hartranft

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Philadelphia police are looking for two suspects in a robbery that occurred on the 2300 block of North Watts Street around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 6.

The suspects, two black males in their 20s, one wearing a purple shirt and jeans and the other dressed in a white T-shirt and shorts, approached two women walking east from Broad Street and robbed them before running away north on Watts Street, video surveillance shows.

The first suspect threw one of the victims to the ground and snatched her purse while the second suspect attempted to steal the other victim’s cell phone, police said.

Acting Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said the victim who was robbed was not a student, while her friend who witnessed was.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia police at 215.686.TIPS  or text a tip to PPD TIP.

Police looking for robbery suspects west of Main Campus

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Philadelphia Police are searching for three suspects who allegedly attempted to take a woman’s cell phone on Monday, according to police.

On Feb. 4, at approximately 1:10 p.m., a 21-year-old woman was on the 1800 block of West Berks Street when three suspects approached her from behind, grabbed her and tried to take her cell phone, police said. After an unsuccessful attempt to grab the cell phone, police said the suspects fled west on Berks Street.

The first suspect is described by police as a 16 to 19-year-old black male of light complexion and stocky build. He was last seen wearing a black jacket over gray, a hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. The other two suspects are described as black males in their late teens.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Philadelphia Police Department at 215-686-TIPS, 215-686-3093 or text tips to 773847.