Tag: robbery

Curry Students Robbed in Off-Campus Incident

BY COLE MCNANNA //

On Sunday night, four Curry students were assaulted at the Fairmount Development Basketball Courts on Bow Street in Hyde Park. The Boston Police Department’s active investigation is still searching for the suspects.

Boston Police Officer James Kenneally confirmed the incident at Boston Housing Authority’s Fairmont development on 43 Bow Street, Hyde Park.

Kenneally noted that the four students were approached by two suspects while playing basketball. One of the suspects presented a firearm and demanded money. The students were robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash but due to the investigation’s ongoing process, nothing more could be revealed.

He added that anyone with any information about the incident should call 1-800-494-TIPS (8477), or text their tip to CRIME (27463).

Just before 1 p.m. Monday, Director of Public Safety, Paul King, sent an update to the student body informing the campus of the incident. However, the two reports did not exactly match up.

King’s note included that there were actually six Curry students who were approached by four suspects, and that one victim was additionally struck multiple times but reported no injuries to first-responders. Both reports featured a weapon, but King could not confirm or deny the weapon of choice.

“It was determined by our reports that six of our students were approached by three or four suspects,” King noted, emphasizing that there were at least three suspects as opposed to BPD’s two.

Chief King also noted that the students were in fact robbed of, “some cell phones, one set of keys and some wallets.”

At this point, he and his staff have been searching their video records to find footage of the students leaving or coming back to campus for clues to the case. He added that the victims have plenty of resources on campus to deal with the aftermath until the suspects are brought to justice.

King noted that any student with information can contact his office directly at 617-333-2159, or talk to any public safety officer who will pass along the information to Boston Police to further the investigation.

This story is developing and will be updated as details emerge

Robberies in Residence Halls

BY KILEY FARRELL // APRIL 17, 2015 //

A group of Curry students took part in a game of “manhunt” Sunday evening, April 12, on the south side of campus. Little did they know things would turn into a real-life investigation.

During the game—a combination of “hide and go seek” and tag—junior Tyler Koning, a communication major, saw a group of young people behind SCRH. One of them had just jumped out of a common room window. A pair of Curry students confronted the strangers, and one of them instantly ran away with what turned out to be a stolen cellphone.

Public Safety was contacted. According to Chief Brian Greeley, Public Safety then contacted the Milton Police Department. Ultimately, the five young people were allowed to leave campus because Milton Police decided a crime was not committed. None of them were in possession of stolen property.

PHOTO BY HEATHER, creative commons
PHOTO BY HEATHER, creative commons

This was not the first robbery from a student residence hall. On March 31, students reported two separate incidents, at 886 and Suites, in which property was stolen through open windows. Public Safety notified the campus community, and asked students to take greater precautions, including locking first-floor windows. Another on-campus robbery also occurred in early November.

“I personally think that Public Safety needs to start focusing more on having coverage around each gate on campus, rather than wasting time in residence halls,” said junior Sammie Jacobs, a management major. “The other night really opened my eyes because it never occurred to me how unsafe we all can be until I personally experienced the incident. We’re lucky just a phone got stolen, and no one got hurt.”

According to students familiar with Sunday night’s investigation, the young people were from Hyde Park and simply walked onto campus at around 9 p.m. The fact the trespassers were allowed to leave campus without consequence bothered a number of Curry students.

“Regardless of their age, and whether they were minors or not, PS still should’ve done something—instead of allowing them to just walk away with no punishment, leaving them to feel like they can just do it again,” said junior Shannon Hickey, a nursing major.

In an interview this week, Greeley said the kids would be immediately arrested if found on the campus again.

“Just like most colleges, we have several entrances and exits,” he said. “We can control who comes on campus in automobiles, however, we rely on our college—such as students, faculty, etc.—to realize if something doesn’t look right so they can call Public Safety, and we can check it out.

“Public safety is everyone’s responsibility,” Greeley added, “therefore we want everyone to be involved.”

Student Robbed at Gunpoint Off Campus

photo credit: davidsonscott15 via photopin cc
photo credit: davidsonscott15 via photopin cc

BY KEVIN DIFFILY // JAN. 18, 2013 //

A Curry student and a friend were robbed off campus at gunpoint around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Milton police. Curry Public Safety notified students, faculty and staff by email less than 12 hours later.

While reportedly walking back from the Tedeschi’s convenience store in Hyde Park, the student and his friend were on Dana Avenue—it runs between Brush Hill Road in Milton and Hyde Park Avenue in Hyde Park—when a man driving a black Honda Civic stepped out of his vehicle and approached them with handgun. He reportedly demanded their belongings and immediately drove away after receiving them.

An HP laptop, a cell phone, wallet, and several gift cards were reported stolen, said Milton police, which noted that the robbery seems to be an isolated incident; no similar events had been reported recently.

The student and friend did not recall a license plate number, and told police only that the robber was a white male who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. They could not discern any distinctive features on the man, police said.

In his email to the college community late Thursday morning, Greeley offered some tips for staying safe on and around campus.

  • Be aware of your surroundings.
  • Don’t walk with ear buds in or while talking on your cell phone.
  • Don’t get so engrossed in text messaging you forget to look around.
  • Keep personal items out of sight as much as possible.
  • Walk with others at night or, ideally, avoid walking off campus late at night.
  • Walk along frequently traveled, well-lighted, open areas.
  • If you believe someone is following you, go where there are other people.
  • Trust your intuition if you feel a situation is unsafe.