A graduate student of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday night on the 900 block of Lancaster Avenue. The student did not suffer any physical injuries, said Tony Callisto, chief of Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety.

This is the second robbery in three days and the fifth in September.

“You’ve got several robberies over the course of a month where there are two suspects, so we can’t rule out that they’re connected. But we really can’t determine that they are connected,” Callisto said. “So certainly the city police are looking at that angle and public safety is trying to help them out.”

Wednesday night two men approached the graduate student from behind as he was walking alone at about 8:30 p.m. One man came around the student, brandished a silver-colored handgun and told the student to give him everything he had, Callisto said.

The student gave the property to the second man, and the two suspects were last seen running east on Kensington Place. The student walked a few blocks and then contacted the Syracuse Police Department, Callisto said.

The victim described one man as black, about 20 years old, five feet, eleven inches tall, medium build, and wore a black hooded sweatshirt with a red T-shirt underneath and dark jeans, Callisto said. The other man was described as black, about 20 years old, six feet tall, and wore a black hooded sweatshirt with a white T-shirt underneath and dark jeans, he said.

The robbery took place two to three blocks beyond the typical Orange Patrol boundaries, Callisto said.

DPS issued an e-mail Wednesday at 11:42 p.m. to the university community about the robbery.

“Every year around the time of fall semester there are robberies that occur sometimes over the span of a few weeks like we’ve experienced now,” Callisto said. “Last year, we didn’t have as many as early as this year. But the year before, there were more.”

The five robberies share several common themes – each took place near or after dark and in areas that are not well-lit, Callisto said. And in three of the robberies the victims were walking alone.

“So that combination creates opportunity,” Callisto said, “and that’s why we continue to want to get the message out to folks: don’t walk alone, get a buddy system going, walk with friends, call an escort. After dark it’s an unsafe way to travel.”

Callisto stressed students should be aware of their surroundings. Students should be mindful of walking while on a cell phone or with headphones, he said.

On Monday, an SU graduate student and his companion were walking on Fellows Avenue in the Westcott Street area when two men approached from the rear, said Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department. One man pulled a two-inch knife and demanded money. He took $40 from them, and both robbers fled the scene, Connellan said.

Two students were also robbed Sept. 7 in a span of about an hour. First, an ESF student was robbed at gunpoint at 9:21 p.m. in the rear parking lot of 101 Smith Lane, just south of the SU campus. Then, an SU student was robbed walking behind Heroy Geology Laboratory on the SU campus at 10:15 p.m., Callisto said.

On Sept. 9, two ESF students were robbed at gunpoint at the 100 block of Judson Street near Westcott Street at 10:25 p.m.

 

Published on October 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm