Students robbed, battered on campus

By Matt Daray

The SIU Department of Public Safety is investigating a battery and robbery that occurred Tuesday on the south end of Anthony Hall.

The incident happened at 11:40 p.m. and involved a 20-year-old student, according to the DPS website. The student told police he was walking over the north overpass when the suspect ran down the overpass. The suspect approached the student and demanded the victim’s “weed, money and wallet,” police said.

The victim said he gave the suspect his wallet and yelled for help as two others walked by. He said the suspect then hit the victim in the face, ran east and dropped the wallet on the sidewalk. The victim received minor injuries to his lip and nose but did not require medical treatment.

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The suspect is described as a black male who is about 6 feet 1 inch tall with a thin build. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt, dark jeans, black shoes, a white mask and black baseball cap, according to the DPS report.

A similar incident occurred Sept. 29 in the Newman Center Parking lot, according to police reports.

A 19-year-old SIU student was walking north on the sidewalk that runs west of the Recreation Center at 3:30 a.m, the DPS reported. The victim passed a male suspect talking on his cell phone on the footbridge that leads to the Newman Center.

The suspect hit the victim in the head and a second male then tried to surround him, the report states. The victim told police he tried to run, but a third male tripped him while in the Newman Center parking lot. The third suspect then hit the victim in the head and took the victim’s cell phone.

The three suspects fled toward the Brush Towers area.

The first suspect was a black male who wore a dark blue hooded sweatshirt. The second suspect was a black male who wore a red button-up shirt and had dreadlocks with blonde tips, while the third suspect, also a black male, wore a white T-shirt.

The victim received treatment at the scene for minor injuries.

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John Allen, all-hazards preparedness resource coordinator supervisor for DPS, said students should use brightway paths, public transportation and walk in groups to avoid such incidents.

He said these methods would not prevent crime altogether but would lower the chances.

Anyone with information about the incidents can call DPS at 453-3771 or the Crime Stopper Line at 549-COPS (2677).

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