Another Northwestern student was robbed near campus early Friday morning in the tenth reported attack on students since the beginning of Fall Quarter, police said.
The purse snatching, which was not reported to police until late Friday morning, probably was not committed by the same people who held up two NU students near campus earlier Thursday evening, said Cmdr. Michael Perry of Evanston Police Department.
The student, 20, and a friend were walking back to campus from The Keg of Evanston, 810 Grove St., at about 1:30 a.m. Friday, Perry said.
The student told police she had not been drinking and her friend also was sober at the time, Perry said.
The two were headed north on the 1700 block of Sherman Avenue, just south of Clark Street, when an unknown man approached, grabbed the student’s purse and ran off with the bag in his right hand, Perry said. In the purse was $30 in cash, two credit cards and other miscellaneous items.
Neither the victim nor her friend were able to see the man’s face, Perry said. The offender was described as a 5-foot-6 white man between 18 and 25 years old. The offenders in several other recent attacks on students, including Thursday’s attack, have been described as black men.
The women said the man who took the purse was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, a pair of loose dark pants and possibly a pair of gym shoes, Perry said.
After the purse snatching, the woman spent six hours trying to find a key to her dorm room, because her key had been in the purse, Perry said.
The purse was returned to the woman later by a man who said he had found it, Perry said.
The victim had not given police the name and address of the man who returned the purse as of Monday afternoon. The man returning the purse accepted a $10 reward from the victim.
The victim reported the robbery to EPD at about 11:50 a.m Friday, Perry said. A credit card was missing from the purse and apparently had been used.
The victim declined to comment on the purse snatching when reached Monday.
Just a few hours before the purse snatching, at about 8 p.m. Thursday, two NU students were held up and robbed by four men, one of whom had a gun, on the 700 block of Foster Street, police said.
The other attacks on students this fall have included purse snatchings, robberies and assaults.
Police said two men confessed to committing one of the October attacks, but no charges were brought against them because the victim declined to sign a complaint with police.
