Wayne State University Issues Crime Alert After Robberies
DETROIT (WWJ) - Police are issuing a crime alert to students and residents who live in the area of Wayne State University.
The alert was issued following two recent robberies in the past few days.
The first incident happened near Woodward and West Warren around 4:10 p.m. Thursday. A 49-year-old woman told police that she had just gotten off a city bus and was walking westbound on Warren when she was approached when she was approached by two men, who allegedly stole her backpack, which contained some cash and other documents. The suspects fled eastbound on foot towards Woodward.
The second robbery happened inside the mail lobby of Manoogian Hall around 5:30 p.m. Thursday. In that incident, a 21-year-old female student reported she was inside the lobby, texting on her iPhone, when the suspect came up and snatched the phone from her hand. The suspect fled on foot southbound on the Lodge service drive.
Responding campus police officers began an area search, but could not locate the suspect. An officer even used his cell phone in an attempt to access the victim's Find My Phone/GPS app without success. The student then notified her parents of what had happened.
Several minutes later and while still speaking with the victim at the scene, police received a call from the victim's father, who told them that he had just received a call from the manager of a gas station on McNichols near Wyoming and the Lodge Freeway, who said he had the victim's cell phone.
Officers then drove the student to the gas station where she positively identified her iPhone. The gas station manager told police that an unknown female came into the business asking if anyone wanted to buy a cell phone. The manager, believing the phone to be stolen and wanting to get it back the rightful owner, offered the female $30 for the phone.
The woman allegedly took the $30 and left the phone with the gas station manager, who then scrolled through the "contact list" on the phone and called the student's father.
None of the suspects have been found.
