A male Northwestern student was robbed late Saturday night in front of Shepard Residential College, at approximately 11:35pm, according to a Northwestern University campus advisory and an eyewitness report.
That campus advisory, published at 2:54am on the homepage of the University's website, reads in part:
On Saturday Oct. 22, 2011, at approximately 11:33 p.m., a male Northwestern University student was walking southbound on Sheridan Road near University Place. A male subject approached the victim from behind and asked him what time it was. The student pulled out his smart phone and informed the subject of the time and kept walking, turning westbound on University Place.
As the student was walking between the 600 and 700 blocks of University Place, the subject again approached him from behind and grabbed him. The subject demanded that the victim turn over his smart phone. The subject stated that he had a knife, but no knife was ever displayed. The subject then proceeded to punch the victim in the face, snatch the phone from out of his hands and push him down. The subject then fled westbound on University Place and then southbound on Sherman Avenue. The victim chased after the offender but lost him as he approached the downtown Evanston area.
That account was generally corroborated by Weinberg sophomore Kristian Ayala, who witnessed the scene as he traveled eastbound on University Place. Ayala reports that the police arrived fewer than two minutes after being called.
This is the first mugging in recent memory to occur in a central, well-trafficked area of the Evanston campus. In the past year, robberies or attempted robberies have occured on Orrington Avenue, Ridge Avenue and at the parking lot of Engelhart graduate dormitory.
The University Police declined to provide further information to NBN when they were reached early Sunday morning.
This article was initially published on Sunday, Oct 23, at 3:02am. It was updated at 3:15am with additional reporting.