String of robberies continues

By Carrie Thorson

Daily Staff Reporter

In the latest in a string of armed robberies near campus in recent weeks, a man wielding a handgun walked into the Subway restaurant on South University Avenue at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday demanding money.

Last month Domino's Pizza offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in the Dec. 9 assault and robbery of a pizza delivery driver. The robbery occurred in a parking lot off McIntyre Drive on North Campus around 7 p.m. after the driver had made a delivery. According to Department of Public Safety reports, three males with handguns approached the driver and demanded money.

The Ann Arbor Police Department arrested four suspects for another robbery involving a delivery driver last month but has determined that these four suspects have nothing to do with the Domino's robbery on December 9, DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said. The reward is still posted.

Other armed robberies near campus recently include:

o A man who was approached by two men with guns on East University Avenue while walking home from the Michigan Union at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

o Two females who were robbed at gunpoint around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. A man with a handgun approached them and demanded money while they were standing in front of their residence in the 1200 block of Prospect Avenue.

o A heist Tuesday afternoon at the Silver Fox, located at 211 S. State St.

o A person who was robbed at gunpoint while walking on East University Avenue near Michigan Avenue late last month.

o A robbery in the 800 block of Tappan Street Dec. 18.

Police have not said whether it's likely that all of the robberies were committed by the same people.

Many houses and apartments around campus were vacant for the past two weeks because of the University's winter break, making residences around campus an easy target for burglaries.

"Students come home from break and a lot of their residences have been broken into," AAPD Lt. Gregory O'Dell said. "It's something we go through every year, which is unfortunate."

Several fraternities also reported break-ins that occurred while members were away on winter break, O'Dell said. "They (burglary reports) will be trickling in for several days," he said.

These recent crimes are a reminder that students should always be aware of their options for personal safety, Brown said. DPS publishes a Campus Safety Handbook and strongly encourages students to use it, she said. It provides safety tips for all kinds of situations, including robberies.

"The biggest incidents we have on campus are not robberies or burglaries," Brown said. "They're larcenies." Larcenies occur most often when students leave their belongings unattended and someone steals them.

"It's a crime of opportunity," Brown said.

Safewalk and Northwalk, student groups that provides two escorts to walk students home at night, are another safety option available to students.

"Mostly we make people feel secure," said Northwalk Coordinator Graham Lanz, an LSA senior. "If we're making them feel more comfortable, we're making them a better student."

Safewalk members have a radio that connects them directly to the Ann Arbor Police Department, Lanz said. "Though the odds of that particular student being attacked are low," he said, "the odds of three students with a police radio being attacked are virtually zero."