By Charles L. Westmoreland
U of L’s Department of Public Safety issued a Crime Alert on Friday involving two separate instances of students being victims of armed robbery near campus.
Both incidents occurred in the early morning on Saturday, Feb. 12. The first robbery occurred at 2:30 a.m. at University Park Apartments located at Preston Street and Eastern Parkway. The victims were sitting in a car in the parking lot when the two suspects approached them with handguns and demanded money. The suspects were seen fleeing on foot after the robbery.
The second occurrence happened a half-hour later at 1719 Fourth St. This incident involved four U of L students and one from Eastern Kentucky University. Again, two suspects approached the victims and displayed their weapons, demanding money. One of the suspects fired at the victims while fleeing the scene. The shot hit one of the victims in the arm. The suspects were seen fleeing in a blue vehicle, but the make and model are unknown.
It is not yet known whether both robberies were committed by the same suspects, although that has not been ruled out as a possibility.
“Right now we don’t have enough information to link the crimes,” said Maj. Kenny Brown, assistant director for DPS. “But there were two armed suspects in both cases that happened near each other. It doesn’t take that long to travel between the two locations.”
Brown said it would be possible for the two suspects to travel the distance between where both incidents occurred on foot within a half hour.
The Louisville Metro Police department is handling the investigation of both incidences. John Drees, director of Information and Marketing at U of L, said that U of L owns the property that University Park Apartments sits on, but because the building is owned by Allen & O’Hara Student Properties, Metro Police are in charge of the investigation.
Brown said that a DPS officer has been assigned to the case to serve as liaison between DPS and Louisville Metro.
Brown said that both organizations will assist each other by sharing leads and information.
“Criminals don’t share boundaries so we’ll be working together,” Brown said. “Cooperation helps bring cases to a quick conclusion.”
Brown warns students to pay attention to their surroundings when venturing from campus. He said that too often people “let their guard down” when in urban areas.
“Most people feel safe on campus, as they should … but the environment can change when leaving the security of campus,” he said.
The suspects were described as black males over 6 feet tall and in their early 20s. They were wearing sweatshirts and dark colored bandanas at the time of the robberies. Anyone with information that might be helpful to the case should contact Detective John Tarter at 852-6911 or the Louisville Metro Police 4th Division at 574-7010.
