A Northwestern student and a Loyola student were attacked on Northwestern’s Evanston Campus over the weekend in the first assault on students in two months. But police said they are not sure whether these new attacks are connected to the crime wave of Fall Quarter.
An NU student was riding her bicycle on the 2100 block of Sheridan Road late Sunday night past a group of four men when one man knocked her to the ground, said Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations. Cubbage said the other men looked on and laughed, but they ran from the area once the student screamed for help.
An hour later, four men near the Rebecca Crown Center attacked a Loyola University student who was visiting friends at NU, said Asst. Chief Daniel McAleer of University Police. The men hit the student on the head and then took his wallet, which contained $7 and a driver’s license.
None of the students was injured, McAleer said. While officers were investigating another student’s call about a suspicious group of men near Shepard Residential College, the robbery of the Loyola student occurred.
Weinberg sophomore Tom Pichert was walking through the Sorority Quads after midnight when he noticed four men loitering between the parked cars on University Place.
“We noticed they were watching us,” said Pichert, who was walking with a friend back to his dorm.
Pichert said as he walked up to the lobby of Shepard, he heard the sound of ice crunching behind him. The two Shepard residents hurried into the lobby and saw the men walk past.
Pichert said he believes the men who followed him also were responsible for the robbery of the Loyola student, which occurred only minutes later.
UP declined to comment on whether the robbery and the Shepard incident were connected.
Twelve students have been robbed or assaulted since October, spurring students to lobby administrators for better lighting and more night patrols. In addition to hiring new security officers, the university installed brighter lights on the east side of Sheridan Road over Winter Break.
McAleer said he is not sure if the most recent attacks are connected to last quarter’s crimes.
“We’re not at the point to analyze it against the Fall Quarter incidents,” he said. “Knowing we did apprehend the individuals involved in those incidents, we have to be sure we’re not dealing with other offenders.”
UP has increased the number of officers on duty during night hours. Evanston police and UP also formed joint task force units, but those units were not on duty Sunday night when the students were attacked.
Pichert said while the attacks last quarter didn’t alter his daily routine, his Monday morning experience will make him think twice when walking late at night.
“It reignited my need to escort people and try not to go anywhere by myself,” Pichert said.
