OSU Police: Recent Robberies Typical of Campus Crime

Despite a recent spike in robberies, Ohio State police say students do not need to be fearful around campus.

Two unrelated robberies in August raised questions about campus safety. However, OSU police say this has been a typical summer, and students should feel out of harm's way as long as they are aware of their surroundings.

"This doesn't seem to be an out-of-the-norm summer for us," said Lt. Rick Green of the OSU police division. "It seems to be, for the most part, a pretty quiet summer. But it was unusual to have two robberies so close together."

The evidence appears to support Green's claim.

According to records from the OSU Department of Public Safety, there have been three cases of robbery on the OSU campus this summer, which is one more than the previous summer. But the timing of the two latest robberies, taking place within a span of four days, is unusual.

The first took place Aug. 12, when a student was arranging to sell his laptop. After advertising his laptop on Craig's List, the student agreed to meet the suspect near the Worthington Building on West 10th Avenue to complete the exchange.

When they met, the suspect allegedly punched the student and took the laptop. When the student tried to chase the suspect down, another suspect emerged and pointed a handgun at the student.

Both suspects fled the scene in a tan, four-door sedan driven by a third accomplice. The student says the suspects were black men in their 20s wearing white T-shirts, dark jeans and do-rags on their heads. They were about 6 feet tall with muscular builds. One of the men had braids.

The case is still being investigated.

The second robbery took place on Woodruff and High Street, where James England, 23, allegedly snatched a girl's purse from her on Aug. 15. The Columbus police arrested the England Aug. 20.

Fourteen days earlier, on Aug. 1, a robbery occurred outside Jesse Owens South Recreation Center at 2:40 a.m. Aria Wright, 18, allegedly stole a wallet and cell phone from an OSU sophomore without using a weapon. OSU police arrested Wright soon after he tried to escape on a bicycle.

During the summer, OSU police maintain the same number of officers on each shift as they do throughout the rest of the year. Each shift has 10 to 12 officers with a minimum of four officers on patrol every shift, said Chief Deputy Richard Morman of the OSU police division.

Morman also said that while theft, which is the most widespread crime on campus, is still persistent throughout the summer, criminal activity at night is significantly less because many students are not on campus.