October 15, 2012

Campus Safety Alert

The Southern Illinois University Carbondale Department of Public Safety is investigating a battery and robbery that occurred Sunday, Oct. 14, in Lot 45, the parking lot south of the Student Recreation Center.

The incident occurred at 12:30 a.m. and involved an 18-year-old SIU student. The student told police he was walking through the parking lot when a gray Jeep Cherokee with four men inside approached. Three of the men left the vehicle and demanded the victim's wallet.

The victim said he noticed two more men, each wearing dark hats, also approaching, and that one of those men hit him in the head. The victim took off his hooded sweatshirt and one of the suspects took it.

The victim received minor injuries but did not require medical treatment.

The six suspects are each African American males. Descriptions of three of the suspects who were in the vehicle are:

Suspect 1 -- shoulder-length dreads, wearing a light blue polo-style shirt, blue jeans, and possibly tan timberline boots.

Suspect 2 -- short black Afro, wearing a red jacket, white tank top, with tattoos on his chest and shoulders. This suspect is whom the victim indicated grabbed his wallet.

Suspect 3 -- short black hair with glasses, and wearing a black hoodie.

There is no additional description for the fourth suspect who was in the vehicle. The two suspects who approached the victim on foot are each described wearing dark-colored hats.

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.

For more information on safety precautions, visit the Department of Public Safety website at http://www.dps.siu.edu/.