The investigation of a Monday night robbery involving a Northwestern student has produced some leads but no arrests, the Evanston Police Department said Wednesday.
The student, a 20-year-old male with a New York driver’s license, was walking by himself on Hinman Avenue at around 11:20 p.m. when he encountered a group of 10 teenagers on the southwest corner of Hinman Avenue and Clark Street, said Deputy Chief Joseph Bellino of EPD. The crime occurred about a half block south of the University Police station.
One of the female suspects asked him if he knew a certain girl, and the student replied that he did not. Then a male in the group walked behind the student, grabbed his arms and placed them behind the student’s back, Bellino said.
The offenders snatched the student’s $150 glasses off his face while one of them rummaged through his pants pockets. The group made off with the student’s cell phone and a wallet, Bellino said.
The wallet contained $20 in cash, prewritten checks, the student’s WildCard, driver’s license, and credit and debit cards, according to EPD documents.
After the robbery, the four male and six female suspects fled on foot southbound on Hinman. The victim, who was not injured, then contacted UP, but EPD is in charge of the investigation because the incident happened on a city street, Bellino said.
Last Thursday, Evanston police arrested 10 people in connection with the beating of a 15-year-old boy in south Evanston, but Bellino said that was an unrelated incident. EPD does not consider the intersection of Hinman Avenue and Clark Street to be a high-crime area, Bellino said.
“We will be enhancing our patrols in the area and trying to stave off this kind of activity,” he said.
UP has added seven new officers in the last few weeks, Assistant Chief Daniel McAleer of UP told THE DAILY last week. This should help prevent future attacks, said Alan Cubbage, NU’s vice president for university relations.
“It’s very unusual for something like that to occur in that location,” Cubbage said. “Hopefully there will not be future similar occurrences.”
