The Department of Public Safety is coordinating with the Syracuse Police Department after an unidentified man allegedly committed two robberies and attempted another in the past week in the off-campus area near Syracuse University.

In two separate off-campus incidents Sunday, three people not affiliated with SU reported to Syracuse police that they were approached by a man, who in one instance had what appeared to be a handgun, according to a DPS e-mail sent Sunday afternoon.

The same man is believed to be behind the Sunday incidents in the Euclid area and a robbery that occurred Thursday morning in Thornden Park.

In the first Sunday incident, the suspect approached a man and demanded money at the intersection of Ostrom Avenue and Madison Street at 3:25 a.m., according to the DPS e-mail. The suspect possessed what appeared to be a handgun, according to the e-mail. The victim did not have any valuables, and the suspect left the area on foot heading north on Ostrom Avenue. The victim was not injured.

In the second incident, the alleged suspect pointed an unknown object at two people and demanded money on the 500 block of Allen Street at 4:40 a.m., according to the e-mail. The suspect received an undetermined amount of money and left the area on foot heading south toward Harvard Place. Neither victim was injured.

The suspect is described as a white male with black hair between the ages of 25 and 33, 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighing 160 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue or green hooded Syracuse sweatshirt and blue jeans.

The description of the suspect in the Sunday robberies matches that of the suspect in a robbery that occurred Thursday morning, DPS said. In that incident, the alleged suspect robbed two students in Thornden Park, displaying what appeared to be a black revolver, according to an e-mail sent Thursday from DPS. The students were walking near the amphitheater when they were approached and robbed at 9:45 a.m., according to the e-mail. The suspect took an orange backpack and a large green purse. 

Neither student was injured during the incident.

DPS will be taking steps to ensure the man does not strike again because it is common for someone to repeat a crime, DPS Asst. Chief Mike Rathbun said. Criminals do things until they are caught because they are successful, he said.

‘It’s not uncommon at all,’ he said. 

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

Published on October 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm