Ann Arbor police investigate two purse thefts early today
Two students walking near the University of Michigan campus early today were robbed of their purses in separate incidents that police say appear to be linked.
In one of the thefts, the woman was pushed to the ground, police said.
The first purse-snatching occurred at about 2:17 a.m. on Packard at South Division, west of the South Quad residence hall.
A student told police she and a friend were walking when a man grabbed her purse off her shoulder. As he walked ahead of her, he dumped the contents of the purse, stole a few items and ran, police said.
At 2:19 a.m., another student was walking alone on South Division at East Jefferson - a block north of the first robbery - when a man approached from behind and pushed her to the ground, police said. He grabbed her purse and ran.
According to police, no weapons were seen or implied.
In both cases, the robber was described as white, in his early to mid-20s and with brown hair. The first victim described him as 5 feet 6 inches tall, thin and wearing a gray fleece jacket. The second victim described him as 5 feet 10 inches tall, medium build, and wearing a black T-shirt.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Ann Arbor police tip line at (734) 794-6939 or e-mail tips@a2gov.org.
Comments
Ricebrnr
Mon, Nov 2, 2009 : 1:02 p.m.
Well.... Per the Supreme Court (Warren v. District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App. 1981)), Law enforcement is under no oblgation to protect you. Besides this is not a revenue generating activity. Ticket writing though is a guaranteed revenue stream.... Cynical or true?......
Awakened
Sun, Nov 1, 2009 : 7:04 a.m.
It appears that AAPD has been reorganized to maintain the same number of ticket writers in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Actually protecting citizens is a second priority to raising revenue. What happens to local business if the students are afraid to leave campus? Less revenue, more budget cuts,even less cops? Very short sighted policy.
Larry Kestenbaum
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 : 1:34 p.m.
What's different today is crime increasing because there's no threat of jail time. Right! Washtenaw County has the fewest jail cells per capita in the entire state. It's really hard to lock somebody up when there's no space available. That point was made back in 2005, but y'all didn't want a "giant jail"; jail expansion was voted down overwhelmingly. There are some additional cells under construction now, but that also depends on the county having enough money to staff the new section.
Macabre Sunset
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 : 12:16 p.m.
The bigger problem is a judicial system that refuses to lock away repeat offenders. This is a heavily traveled area. I used to live on that block - people are around at all hours. For a criminal to be operating out there, he has to be confident that even if he's caught, it's catch-and-release with the police. I've never seen a police presence in that area. They've never bothered with the off-campus housing because doors are always left open, so many students are around at all hours. What's different today is crime increasing because there's no threat of jail time.
BornNRaised
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 : 11:53 a.m.
Hey, 81wolverine, what are you talking about? There are plenty of cops around town! Just ask the city supervisor who let them all go. He'll tell you everything is fine. After all, he's a politician. Why shouldn't we believe him?
81wolverine
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 : 11:08 a.m.
It seems when you read these crime reports, most of them occur in the very early morning hours like this - 2:00 to 4:00. Our daughter goes to U-M and we keep telling her to stay off the streets that time of night near campus if at all possible. If anyone needs to be out then, they should travel in groups. There just isn't enough campus police and security people to prevent these type of incidents.
Wolverine3660
Sat, Oct 31, 2009 : 10:38 a.m.
I hope the cops arrest these opportunistic criminals soon.