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NEWS
| OCTOBER 26, 2005
Crime
Student robbed, assaulted in lot
The incident has prompted police
to issue a bulletin and put fliers around UTA.
By Heather
Ann White
The Shorthorn staff
A female student was robbed and assaulted in a campus parking lot
when two male subjects reportedly grabbed the student’s purse
as they were driving by.
According to the police report, on Oct. 18, the student was walking
to class at 6:43 p.m. from her parked car in Lot F12 when a vehicle
pulled up beside her and someone inside grabbed her purse. Police
are looking for what the woman described as two black males in a
beige four-door vehicle, possibly a Toyota Camry. The student did
not let go of the purse, fell to the ground and was dragged several
feet before the men eventually took off with it.
Police Chief Bob Hayes said the UTA Police Department has issued
a personal safety bulletin for the campus and posted fliers earlier
this week to inform students of the incident.
He said similar robberies have been in the news recently.
“I don’t know if Arlington has had any [robberies],
but there have been several in the metropolitan area,” he
said.
Students carrying purses can take precautions by hanging their bags
on the shoulder opposite from traffic, Hayes said.
Math senior Meagen Ratz said she has heard about purse snatchings
on the radio for the past two weeks and has also seen the bulletins
around campus.
“It’s really scary,” she said. “It’s
a lot harder when you’re a girl at night and you have night
classes, especially when the parking lots are far away.”
Ratz, who has a night class, said she usually tries to walk with
a group of people after dark and will be more cautious after seeing
the campus bulletins.
Education junior Candace Price also has a night class, but said
she takes advantage of the police escort service. Price said she
has heard about purses being stolen on campus but not like this.
“I saw the bulletins and wanted to know what the police are
doing about it,” she said. “It’s really scary,
and I’d like to see some higher security.”
Price, president of Voices of Christ, a campus Christian organization,
said she tells anyone who walks at night to walk in a group and
stick together.
“I tell all my girls to keep their purse as close to them
as possible,” she said. “That way, it’s not so
easy to snatch off.”
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