Campus Safety Alert

October 01, 2012

Campus Safety Alert

The Southern Illinois University Carbondale Department of Public Safety is investigating a battery and robbery that occurred Saturday, Sept. 29, in the Newman Center Parking lot just west of the footbridge that crosses over from the SIU Student Recreation Center.

The incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. and involved a 19-year-old SIU student.  The student told police he was walking north on the sidewalk west of the Student Recreation Center and was on the bridge that leads to the Newman Center parking lot when he passed a male who was sitting on the bridge and talking on the phone. The suspect hit the victim in the head, and a second male then tried to surround him. The victim told police he tried to run, but a third male tripped him while in the Newman Center parking lot. The third suspect then hit the victim in the head and took the victim's Motorola Droid X cellphone.

The three suspects then ran toward the Brush Towers area.

The victim received treatment at the scene for minor injuries.

The first suspect, an African American male, is described as wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt. The second suspect, an African American male, was wearing a red button-up shirt with dreadlocks and blonde tips, and the third suspect, also an African American male, was wearing a white T-shirt.

Anyone with information about the incident should call the SIU Carbondale Department of Public Safety at 618/453-3771 or the Crime Stopper Line at 618/549-COPS.

Police advise members of the campus community to be aware of their surroundings at all times, and if traveling at night to use the Saluki Express, Night Safety Transit Service and Brightway Path. In addition, emergency call phones are located across campus, including on both overpasses.