Armed Robbery Tied to Student Attacks, Police Say

A Cambridge resident was mugged at gunpoint Saturday night near Central Square in an attack that the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) said is probably linked to two assaults against students earlier this week. The victim of Saturday's attack was unharmed.

The robbery occurred around 8:30 p.m. Saturday night as the victim was walking along Harvard Street toward Harvard Square.

The victim, who asked not to be identified, said five black males approached him on one side of the street. He said he saw another five approaching him from the other side. One member of the group pointed a gun at the victim and told him to empty his pockets. He handed over his wallet to one of the group members.

"I don't know if it was a real gun or a toy--I've never seen a gun before," the victim said.

CPD stopped five suspects at the intersection of Plympton Street and Mill Street in front of Winthrop House in connection with the robbery, but the suspects were released at the site when the victim failed to identify the perpetrators.

The victim said the chaotic circumstances surrounding the crime made it difficult for him to make a positive identification.

"I wasn't paying attention to their faces when they mugged me, so it was difficult to identify them," he said.

CPD and HUPD tried to contact the Harvard students who had been robbed earlier this week in order to ask them to identify the suspects, but the students were unavailable.

HUPD officers said they believe the most recent assault is linked to six other robberies in the area over the last week.

"The proximity of the crimes, the similarity in descriptions of age and clothing and the timing make it very unlikely for these to be different groups of perpetrators," said HUPD Sergeant Robert A. Cooper.

Based on victims' accounts, HUPD describes the robbers in last week's assaults as four black males, aged 17 to 20. HUPD estimates that three of robbers are about 5'8" tall, and the fourth is 6'2".

HUPD officers said they believe that some of the same men have been involved in each of the attacks, though several robberies have involved more than four assailants.

Cooper said he believes the robbers may be from outside the area. He said he believes they may have a false sense of security because they have found victims with relative ease.

"The robbers are usually stupid enough to keep coming back until they get caught," Cooper said.