2008 Woodie Awards
Robberies continue: no suspects caught
Ben Veghte
Issue date: 12/2/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
As the semester draws to a close there appears to be little progress made toward ridding the campus of its crime wave. The most recent incident involved a female student walking to her car on the 2200 block of Gordon Street, bringing the total number of armed-robbery victims this year to three.
According to the student's statement on the incident, while she was walking down the street a man approached her from the opposite direction. When the man was ten feet away he pulled out a gun and told her to give up her purse.
After complying with the man's demands, the student called in the incident to Campus Safety. Ken Lupole, Director of Campus Safety, stated that a lot of vehicles responded to the student's call including the Allentown Police Department (APD).
Lupole said, "An investigator was assigned to the case and has been working with us since."
The investigation thus far into the case has yielded little information to link this recent incident to the two others that have occurred this semester. Lupole explained that it is "difficult to get a good description."
He added that all of the descriptions in the three cases have been different. "We don't know if it is one individual," he confirmed.
Despite the fact that there has been an unprecedented amount of students robbed this semester; Lupole emphasized that these activities are not directly targeted at students of the College.
"Everyone thinks it's geared towards the campus, and it's not," stated Lupole. "They could be patrolling the whole city. All they are looking for is a victim."
Lupole described the robberies as products of opportunity. He stated that "if the opportunity presents itself, they (robbers) are going to take advantage of that."
In order to limit this opportunity, it is important for students to take an active role in working together as a Community in resolving the problem. "We all need to work together," he stated.
According to the student's statement on the incident, while she was walking down the street a man approached her from the opposite direction. When the man was ten feet away he pulled out a gun and told her to give up her purse.
After complying with the man's demands, the student called in the incident to Campus Safety. Ken Lupole, Director of Campus Safety, stated that a lot of vehicles responded to the student's call including the Allentown Police Department (APD).
Lupole said, "An investigator was assigned to the case and has been working with us since."
The investigation thus far into the case has yielded little information to link this recent incident to the two others that have occurred this semester. Lupole explained that it is "difficult to get a good description."
He added that all of the descriptions in the three cases have been different. "We don't know if it is one individual," he confirmed.
Despite the fact that there has been an unprecedented amount of students robbed this semester; Lupole emphasized that these activities are not directly targeted at students of the College.
"Everyone thinks it's geared towards the campus, and it's not," stated Lupole. "They could be patrolling the whole city. All they are looking for is a victim."
Lupole described the robberies as products of opportunity. He stated that "if the opportunity presents itself, they (robbers) are going to take advantage of that."
In order to limit this opportunity, it is important for students to take an active role in working together as a Community in resolving the problem. "We all need to work together," he stated.