In a period of around ten minutes three students were robbed in separate incidents around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday night. The suspects were arrested shortly afterwards.
“These guys were definitely looking for an opportunity,” Director of UR Security Walter Mauldin said.
A female student reported being robbed by two suspects wearing ski masks behind Susan B. Anthony Residence Halls at 10:47 p.m., according to Mauldin.
One of the suspects possessed what appeared to be a handgun and demanded money. A third suspect waited in a nearby vehicle.
Sources close to the investigation have said that the vehicle was a blue Ford Focus.
After the student turned over his money to the suspects, the two suspects fled the scene on foot, while the driver drove away.The student immediately called UR Security on his cell phone, according to Mauldin.
Recent community bulletins report that another student was robbed, forced to the ground by an assailant who appeared to have a handgun. Shortly after, as security officers began setting up a perimeter around campus, the second victim called security in front of the ITS Center, reporting that two people were sprinting down Library Road towards Meliora Hall.
A security supervisor noticed the suspects at a vehicle on Hutchinson Road at Wilmont Lot matching the victims’ description and briefly talked with the suspects as security waited for the Rochester Police Department to arrive.
During that time, another student, a junior, approached the security vehicles and reported that he had been struck on the back of the head and then robbed in Wilmont Lot near Hutchinson Hall. The suspects were handcuffed and taken into custody, according to Mauldin.
Items related to the incident were found in the vehicle.
“Quick action was key,” Mauldin said of the incident. “[Security officers] acted very quickly and professionally.”
Neither of the students was seriously injured, and the mugging victim declined medical attention.
Schnee can be reached at cschnee@campustimes.org.
