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There were two strong-armed robberies in Ithaca this Thanksgiving weekend, one on Thursday and one Sunday night.
On Thursday, a female victim reported that while walking along the 900 block of Stewart Avenue a white male suspect “came up behind the victim and grabbed her,” stealing her purse, according to a crime alert sent out by the Cornell University Police Department. The Ithaca Police Department is currently investigating the incident, according the report.
The walker described the suspect as a “white male, with light colored hair, wearing a dark colored hoodie,” according to the report.
This mirrors the description the victim gave the CUPD after October’s strong-armed robbery, in which a female victim had her purse and iPod snatched along the south side of Fall Creek Gorge. In October, the victim described the male as “6 feet 1 inch tall, thin build, appearing to be in his early 20s, clean-shaven, with short, light brown hair.”
Another strong-armed robbery occured Sunday. Cayuga Heights Police Department Officer Lanning said there was no information as of late Sunday evening, but that the Department would issue a press release Monday morning. The Ithaca Journal reported police were searching along Hanshaw Road.
This weekend’s robberies follow a strong-armed robbery in October and three forcible touching incidents in the same week in early November.
There were zero reported robberies for 2009 and three in 2008, according to the CUPD’s 2009 Annual Security Report. The report also listed five forcible sex offenses in 2009 and zero in 2008.
CUPD Chief Kathy Zoner said, “I wouldn’t call [the robberies] typical,” but added “we sometimes get a string of different types” of incidences.
She said students have to “pay attention [and] be aware of their situation.”