A student was attacked and robbed for his headphones on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Wednesday night.

SIUE police reported that a male student was walking on campus listening to music on his Beats headphones about 8:20 p.m. when he was attacked. He had crossed the South University crosswalk by Hairpin Drive and was about to enter the walking path when two men got out of a car and attacked him.

One of them struck him from behind on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. They stole the Beats headphones and the student’s cellphone. Then they ran back to their car and fled, according to the witnesses.

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SIUE police were alerted through a Blue Light 911 activation — a series of emergency alert stations located throughout the campus.

SIUE Police Chief Kevin Schmoll said the student declined to go to the hospital. He suffered bruises to the back of his head and mild abrasions to his face and hand from falling.

He said he believes the encounter began out of anger — SIUE has a number of student-crossing areas, and cars regularly stop multiple times on its internal roads to allow students to pass.

“Our victim was in the crosswalk and the car came to a quick stop to avoid hitting him,” Schmoll said. “I think that’s what initiated the encounter.”

The vehicle is described as a gray Ford Contour with very loud exhaust, possibly missing a muffler. The license plate is E520694, and an alert has been sent out to other law enforcement agencies for it, Schmoll said.

The stolen cellphone was quickly recovered using Apple’s “Find My Mac” program; it had been discarded by the side of the road and was undamaged, Schmoll said. Beats headphones generally cost between $199 and $399, according to Apple’s website.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the SIUE Police Department at 650-3324.

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Elizabeth Donald can be reached at 618-239-2507 or on Twitter @BNDedonald

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