The Commentator

Issue date: 12/6/04 Section: News

Related Articles:

Amsterdam Ave and 495 W. 186th Street

Another mugging incident took place on the Wilf Campus last week, making it the second major security infraction in nearly a month. A Yeshiva alumnus living at 495 W. 186th Street - the building affectionately known to students as "the Bookstore building" - was assaulted by three unidentified assailants in the lobby of his building at 11:30 pm. Only a few weeks earlier, a Yeshiva student was mugged in the building next door, 475 W. 186th Street, at 12:45 am. Aside from being directly across from Morgenstern and Zysman Hall, 495 186th Street is also part of the Independent Housing Program (IHP).

Unlike the previous incident where the victim had no money and was not physically attacked, last week's mugging victim was not as lucky. "They beat me a little and told me to cover my eyes so I would not see them," said the Yeshiva alumnus on the condition of anonymity. "They threatened me by saying if I looked, they would poke my eyes out and other nasty things like that."

The assailants quickly took the alumnus' wallet, which contained lose cash and credit cards, but, surprisingly, did not take his watch or laptop computer. The victim did not sustain any major physical damage.

Last week's mugging occurred in a similar fashion to the mugging last month, leading many to speculate a connection between the two. As the alumnus was waiting for the elevator in the lobby, two men entered the lobby and one came from out of the hallway. The muggers threw the almnus to the floor and then whacked him over the head to prevent him from seeing their faces. Police suggested that the two events are related, but have no other leads.

In response to the original incident of November 1, the Department of Safety and Security stationed a "shadow" security guard to walk the length on 186th Street between the hours of 12 am to 8 am. But this time, Don Sommers, Chief of Security, admitted to the apparent ineffectiveness of their response. "[Before] from 12 to 8 am, we are all over 186th like glue. Obviously it was not enough, and now we are going to be covering 186th like glue starting from 8 pm," said Mr. Sommers.

"In joint with the [New York City] police department, we now have anticrime units that are dressed up like normal civilians carefully watching for certain clues to help find the thieves," Mr. Sommers added.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools