A male Northwestern student was robbed early Monday morning, police said, in the latest in a rash of robberies and assaults on students this quarter.
The 20-year-old student was walking in the area of Sherman Avenue and Lake Street at about 2 a.m. when three men approached him and asked for money, said Cmdr. Michael Perry of Evanston Police Department. The student replied that he didn’t have any.
Perry said one of the men then pushed a “hard object” into the student’s back and said, “Give me your fucking money.”
The student gave the men his wallet, Perry said. The men took $15, threw the empty wallet on the ground and left the area on foot.
The robbery might be connected to the five previous attacks on students during Fall Quarter, but it is hard to tell if students are being targeted, Perry said. EPD and University Police are confident the suspects will be arrested.
“So far no one has seriously been hurt,” Perry said. “We hope to catch them so that doesn’t occur.”
Perry said two suspects in connection with an attack on a student last week admitted to the crimes, but EPD was not able to arrest them because the student did not want to sign a complaint. The student, who was assaulted Oct. 3 near Sherman and Noyes Street by men wearing ski masks, told police he did not feel he was harmed.
At a Women’s Coalition meeting Tuesday, co-director Priya Khatkhate said NU is in “an emergency situation.”
Khatkhate, a Medill senior and former DAILY reporter, also questioned why no suspects had been arrested.
Women’s Co has been active in lobbying the NU administration for better lighting and was responsible for the distribution of rape whistles earlier this quarter.
The group’s co-director, David Kieley, said added foot patrols and security guards is “definitely a step in the right direction” but not enough.
“Two people can’t cover our entire underlit campus adequately,” said Kieley, aWeinberg senior. “It seems more like a gesture than anything that’s actually going to change anything. We need more actual police.”
UP Assistant Chief Daniel McAleer said although the recent series of attacks on students are worrisome, it is not out of the ordinary.
“There’s occasionally spikes in incidents,” McAleer said. “It doesn’t become a long-term trend. Eventually, when we catch up to the perpetrators and take them into custody, the incidents stop.”
UP is working closely with EPD, McAleer said, and the departments meet each day to do crime analysis, share information and coordinate the deployment of their officers.
He said UP’s extended jurisdiction has helped the department.
“When we’re looking at people coming onto campus with no legitimate reasons to be on campus, we don’t have to watch what sidewalk we’re on before making a stop,” McAleer said.
McAleer said the added safety initiatives, such as security patrols, are not temporary.
“It’s not a stopgap measure,” McAleer said. “When the two police departments clear the incidents, you’ll still see security guards on campus.”
The safety subcommittee of Associated Student Government has met three times in the last week, in addition to regular meetings, to discuss security on campus, said Meredith Kesner, an off-campus senator.
“Events like this keep happening,” said Kesner, a Medill senior and former DAILY staff member. “It saddens us and makes us want to work harder to lobby the administration to get more police patrols off campus.”
Adam Forsyth, a member of the safety subcommittee, said ASG is working to improve Escort Service by increasing staff and potentially adding better technology. Last week NU administrators added more cars and drivers to Escort Service.
“We’re trying to work on things that impact students so they just don’t feel safer,” said Forsyth, a Weinberg junior. “We’re trying to make concrete changes.”
Mary South, a Weinberg senior, lives a block away from the latest robbery and called the crime wave “disheartening.” She said she always has called friends to walk her home since the first assault in October.
“I don’t feel like someone is going to break into my apartment,” South said. “But I wouldn’t feel safe walking alone anywhere near Northwestern.”
THE DAILY’s Scott Gordon contributed to this report.
