Students notified of two off-campus robberies in safety awareness email

Amanda Etchison
Sun, 24 Apr 2016 14:47:49 +0000
Area, Campus, Crime, Features, Local, Columbus Division of Police, crime, featured, off-campus, ohio state, robberies

Two armed robberies near Ohio State’s campus occurred within several hours of each other late Friday night and early Saturday morning. Members of the OSU community were notified of these crimes in a safety awareness email sent by OSU Emergency Management Saturday afternoon.

The first robbery occurred around 10:30 p.m. Friday at East Northwood Avenue and Tuller Street, the email stated. An OSU student was robbed at gunpoint after four suspects stole his cellphone and other items in his pockets. They then hit the victim on the head with a gun and ran away from the scene.

The four suspects were described as black males in their late teens to early twenties.

Less than two hours later, around 12:02 a.m., ?another robbery occurred at East 15th Avenue and North 4th Street.

The victim, identified in the Emergency Management Email as an OSU student, said three suspects — two black males and one Hispanic male, all in their late teens to early twenties — approached him, displayed a handgun and punched him in the face. They took his backpack and contents of his pockets before fleeing the scene on foot.

The robberies were both originally reported to the Columbus Division of Police, which is currently investigating the crimes, the email stated.

OSU Emergency Management asks that anyone with information regarding these two crimes contact Columbus Police at (614) 645-4545. Anonymous tips can also be reported by calling Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS or the University Crime Stoppers Tips line at (614) 247-TIPS.