Two area residents robbed at gunpoint near campus
Patrick Stevenson
Editor-in-Chief
On Oct. 24 and 25, two area residents were robbed at gunpoint just across the street from the Xavier campus according to Campus Police.
The first robbery, which occurred behind the Ezzell auto parts store on Dana and Ledgewood avenues, was reported to Campus Police at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 24 by an area resident. The victim fled when he was approached by the suspects, who proceeded to fire a shot at the victim from a 9 mm handgun.
This robbery was committed by two armed men, described as 20-24 year old African-Americans dressed in black.
The next day, on Oct. 25 at 12:05 p.m., an employee of Dynamic Industries reported that he had been robbed at gunpoint by two men at the Dynamic Industries warehouse on Woodburn Avenue.
The robbery was committed by two armed men, described as 16-20 year old African-Americans dressed in black.
Officer Kenneth Grossman of the Xavier Campus Police said that since the descriptions are similar, the robberies may have been committed by the same perpetrators, but as of now, police are unsure.
Although the robberies occurred off-campus and didn’t involve any Xavier students, faculty or staff, Xavier officials are still concerned that no arrests have been made in regards to the robberies.
“We are increasing [police] visibility in and around the Ledgewood parking lot,” said Grossman.
When asked if he would discourage students from parking in the Ledgewood parking lot at night, Grossman responded that “the Ledgewood lot is well-lit and well-patrolled, so students shouldn’t be afraid of parking there.”
However, Grossman did encourage everyone to be more careful about walking in the area surrounding campus. “Just as [campus police] are increasing our visibility in the area, we expect students, faculty and staff to increase their awareness of their surroundings in the area surrounding campus.”
Some concern has been raised about the lack of student awareness of these robberies.
Sylvia Bessegato, Associate Vice President of Emergency Management at Xavier admitted that Xavier’s current policy of notifying students via an announcement on the portal may not be an effective enough method.
“Had a student been involved in this, we would have taken more measures to notify people,” said Bessegato. “However, if many students were unaware of these robberies, we may have needed to post bulletin notifications on campus.”
Stats show campus crime increase
Kelly Shaw
Senior News Editor
Crime on Xavier's campus is on the decline, while off-campus incidents are slowly but noticeably increasing, according to Xavier Campus Police statistics.
The most noticeable change in Xavier’s crime statistics, which covers through March of 2006, has been the increased number of alcohol arrests and citations. But this boom in liquor law citations is not because of increased consumption but rather from a new system being employed by the university to track and record alcohol violations.
Among other notable statistics are the zero reported robberies, homicides on campus and only one aggravated assault, which occurred in 2006. There were also no motor vehicle thefts, and since 2004 there have been no hate crimes committed on campus.
Compared to the crime statistics from 1998 and 1999, however, crime at Xavier has increased. According to the November 1, 2000 edition of the Newswire, there were no sexual offenses on or off campus, and only five counts of burglary. This, compared to the 52 reported burglaries and 16 sexual offenses between 2004 and 2006, shows a dramatic increase in reported incidents.
Crime |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
Off-campus 2006 |
| Aggravated assault | 0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Burglary | 22 |
8 |
14 |
8 |
| Forcible sex offenses | 1 |
4 |
3 |
8 |
| Motor vehicle theft | 4 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
| Arson | 4 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
| Liquor law arrests | 1 |
2 |
1 |
n/a |
| Liquor law citations | 55 |
54 |
810 |
n/a |
| Drug abuse citations | 7 |
1 |
48 |
n/a |
| Drug law arrests | 0 |
0 |
0 |
n/a |
John LaFollette
Editor-in-Chief
Rachel Peters
Ann Tassone
Darren LaCour
Senior News Editors
The Xavier Newswire 3800 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, Ohio 45207-2129 On-campus location: The Publications House, 3739 Ledgewood Dr. Telephone: 513.745.3607 Advertising: 513.745.3561 Fax: 513.745.2898 Email: John LaFollette
Editor-in-Chief Ellie Jaqueth
Advertising Manager Full list of staff contacts www.xu.edu/newswire
