On Wednesday, Oct. 12, a 17-year-old male was arrested in connection with the armed invasion of the home of six Saint Joseph’s University students. The suspect has been charged with robbery and kidnapping.
The armed break-in and robbery took place on Oct. 5, when two men entered a home in the 5600 block of Woodbine Avenue through a window. They restrained a resident of the home using duct tape and zip ties and attempted to abduct her from the house. The student escaped before the intruders fled in her car, taking her iPad, iPhone, and purse with them, according to Philly.com.
Arthur Grover, director of the Office of Public Safety and Security, said that police believe the purpose of kidnapping the student would have been to procure more money from her.
“It was theorized by the detectives that they would take her to the ATM and impose upon her to withdraw money to facilitate that part of the crime,” Grover said.
According to Grover, police were able to connect the suspect in custody to this break-in through another crime. On Oct. 8, the male reportedly robbed the home of another St. Joe’s student, taking a bike among other items. On Oct. 12, the student saw the suspect on his bike and reported it to the police, leading to his arrest.
“Ultimately, after confronting him with the reality that the bike was taken and by looking at the [security] video tape… they were able to match up aspects of the footwear that this young man was wearing with what was on the video tape, and a confession was obtained,” Grover said.
According to Grover, the university responded to the incident immediately.
“I was part of a team of people from the university who went to the house the morning after to support this student, offer her any counseling, offer her on-campus housing, which we did for all the girls,” Grover said.
In light of this incident, Grover said that students who live off-campus should be more aware of their surroundings and take extra security precautions.
“We urge our students to work closely with their landlords,” Grover said. “You want to have an alarm system; you want to have security cameras…you want to have an approach to sight lines where overgrown foliage is cut back; you want to make sure that you have quality locks on your doors and windows and that they are deployed.”
Grover also emphasized that students who live off-campus should file their address with the university, as these reported addresses help the Office of Public Safety and Security plan their off-campus patrol routes.
The Office of Public Safety and Security is also providing students who live off-campus with additional safety resources.
“We have continued to deploy more resources to that area, [such as] additional police officers,” Grover said. “The 19th District, as well, have dedicated more police resources to the areas off-campus where our students live…we intend to keep that going, at the least for the foreseeable future.