Junior mugged at knifepoint
After Thursday morning stabbing and attempted robbery on Cross Campus, victim in good condition
Junior mugged at knifepoint
After Thursday morning stabbing and attempted robbery on Cross Campus, victim in good condition
Friday, February 1, 2008
A male Calhoun College junior was the victim of an attempted robbery at knifepoint outside his residential college early Thursday morning.
At approximately 3:15 a.m., an undergraduate student was attacked by a “man wearing a black puffy jacket and white baseball cap, riding a bicycle,” Yale Police Department Chief James Perrotti wrote in e-mail announcement sent to all Yale faculty and students at 9:09 a.m. yesterday.
But the e-mail did not mention that the student was injured by a stab wound to the arm that sent him to University Health Services shortly after the attack. The victim, whose name is being withheld by the News to protect the victim’s privacy, said Thursday that he is currently in good condition.
It remains unclear whether the assailant has been found.
The YPD did not return several requests for comment Thursday.
The victim said he was walking from Gourmet Heaven to his college when the assailant approached him from College Street. The attacker demanded money and prodded the knife into the junior’s arm, who pushed the assailant to the ground, he said. The assailant then rose and stabbed the victim in the arm.
The junior went to UHS for treatment after noticing a “moderate” arm wound on his left shoulder — which did not require stitches — and remained there until “between 4 and 4:30 a.m.,” he said.
A UHS representative said she could not confirm whether the victim was in the facility Thursday night because of patient-doctor privacy.
Most Calhoun students interviewed by the News on Thursday night were alarmed by the information and questioned why Perrotti did not mention the stabbing in the morning e-mail. But many said the incident did not surprise them because the victim was walking alone despite past warnings from Yale officials to walk in groups in the early morning hours.
“I understand a reason for withholding the information — that it is to prevent panic,” Nikila Sri-Kumar ’11 said. “But students have a right to know the extent of this event in order to be able to protect themselves properly.”
And panic may indeed not spread quickly within Calhoun — simply because not many students read the e-mail.
Of the 20 Calhoun students interviewed by the News, 12 said they did not read the e-mail — one deleted it after seeing the e-mail was from Perrotti.
“Honestly,” Ford Stevens ’10 said, “I don’t think anyone thought too much of it because we’ve got so many e-mails from him.”
“But I was a little concerned because it was so close,” he added.
But when told about the withheld information, Stevens was astonished. “I feel misled.”
Many students interviewed in the Calhoun courtyard Thursday night were alarmed when told about the incident.
Naima Sykes ’10 exclaimed, “What?” She stood speechless, eyes wide, for a moment.
Stevens, who was next to Sykes, then joked, “I think I’m gonna carry an assault rifle now.”
In accordance with the national Clery Act, Perrotti issues “timely warnings” to Yale students and faculty, according to the 2006 Yale University Report on Campus Security. In addition, notifications are made “by phone or in person to University Officers, deans and others closely associated with any victim of a major crime.”
No such notifications were made by Calhoun officials on Thursday, all students interviewed said.
Calhoun Master Jonathan Holloway declined to comment Thursday night. Calhoun Dean Leslie Woodard could not be reached for comment.
Many students said they had not noticed any change in the atmosphere around Calhoun yesterday. Only three Calhoun students said they had a conversation about the incident yesterday.
Despite the Yale Security program instituted Jan. 7 that pledges a more concrete presence in the residential colleges, all but one Calhoun student said they have not noticed any heightened security today — or all year.
At the end of his e-mail, Perrotti urged Yale students and faculty members to call the Yale Police hotline or 911 if they are involved with or observe a crime on campus.
Comments
None 4 years, 3 months ago
alum '07, those people's lives of course matter but the university's responsibility is first and foremost to its own students. yale, as rich as it is, has limited resources and must set priorities - and it already does help out the community a great deal. the remaining (huge) problems are not the university's fault. the university should be commended for doing something at all about these problems. i don't have a solution to these problems but somehow the city or the people themselves need to get their act together.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
People in New Haven are occasionally mugged at knifepoint. As all of the comments attest, this is a terrible, terrible thing, terrible for the student who experienced it this time and for everyone else who has. But am I the only one who's more interested in thinking about how to prevent the crime and the desperation and deprivation and brokenness and anger at many levels that lead to it, rather than in how to surround Yale with as many cops as possible? What about all of the New Haven neighborhoods that aren't included in the Yale police beat? Is it sufficient to just station more cops around the colleges' gates and then forget about it? Do those neighborhoods' people's lives matter less?
None 4 years, 3 months ago
GreatUnWashed, that's pretty cynical of you to say that once Yalies leave the safety of their residential college compounds they are out in the wider world and should deal with it and not expect Yale to protect them. Despite the love and appreciation most of us have developed for New Haven, the city of objectively quite a bit less safe than anywhere else we would be living (New York, Boston, London, Los Angeles, etc). We did not choose to live in New Haven; we chose to go to Yale which happens to be in New Haven. We will be leaving here when we graduate and while we'd like to care about the fate of the city (just like we'd like to care about genoice in Darfur or whatever) we have too much else going on in our lives to really get involved. This isn't our city and we'll be gone soon. The point is, New Haven is not the 'wider world'- it is a place (despite it's great moments) that we are subject to because of the location of our beloved university and that we will be leaving soon for good. As such, Yale needs to protect us both inside the colleges and out.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
The Great Unwashed is throwing his hands in the air and giving up,He/She or combination of the two is actually putting the blame on students for this mugging and probably all others. Yale Security needs to be held accountable,as the actual Mugger should be . But once more the Security and REAL police are going on an offensive as they once again can't explain their whereabouts zzzzzzzzz .They are hired to do a job if they don't like their joib they can turn in their badge and gun and whatever is handed to Security,they are paid to protect and serve Not whine and accuse
None 4 years, 3 months ago
More students have been brutalized by the New Haven PD than by muggers. And muggers can't thow you in jail for the privilege of getting cut.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
it's probably not an easy area to police. Like a few have mentioned it's open to passers by,Restaurants,Bars,are located on Campus.Major streets of the City of New Haven traverse every way. Not easy, so a constable would have to be that much more alert.You can have a whole University screaming shark for some putz while over by the Lawschool an actual act of horror takes place. (i think it's been said-oh well) sometimes i see cops in cars,cops on bikes,cops in unmarked cars,cops as pedestrians,visiting scholars as cops, dishwashers as CIA,Post Grad Neuro-biologists beauty queens (i'm serious) then they vanish, what happens ?
None 4 years, 3 months ago
"This isn't our city and we'll be gone soon...it is a place (despite it's great moments) that we are subject to because of the location of our beloved university and that we will be leaving soon for good."
Jens, speak for yourself. This kind of elitist attitude that seems pretty common at Yale is why a lot of people here who aren't associated with Yale really don't have a lot of respect for Yale students--Yale students way too often have no respect for anyone else in town. It shouldn't be surprising when a gated off university in the middle of downtown with this kind of disrespectful attitude is resented by so many people in the rest of the city.
Come May, I'll gladly be trading in being a Yalie for being a townie.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
How do you expect Yale to protect you on a city street? It's not cynical to suggest you protect yourself. The city does not have enough officers to protect the individual. Yale certainly does not have enough officers ( police or security) to station an officer at every corner. Even if they did would that prevent every crime? Throwing my hands up in the air? Certainly not, just seeing the world as it actually is. At some point you are responsible for your own well being. Yale is not an all powerful institution with unlimited power. As much as we would like to think, Yale cannot hermetically seal the streets to allow us safe passage. Yale allows the citizens of the city access to our buildings, courtyard and campus. It's an open campus and unless we lock ourselves away from the world behind closed gates and guarded streets that city will intrude. How much security will you be willing to accept inside and outside the gates? Cameras, ID checks and our mobility limited after hours? ID checks on sidewalks to keep non-Yale members of the community away? Yale Security is there to give us rides and open doors, they have no power on Campus or the street. You yourselves ridicule them but demand they do something? The Yale Police? The purpose they serve is to seperate us from the New Haven Police if at all possible. If they start ID checks on streets how long before you start howling about civil rights violations? The New Haven police? Well they just don't like us one little bit. So who does it come down to? Us it would seem. Instead of blaming the people who follow the rules laid down to satisfy the students, come up with a constructive idea. Offer a suggestion on what you would like Yale to do, and how much intrusive protection you would accept. And remember it is not Yale outside the gates- it's a city where Yale has no control.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
good observations..most were discussed before,Safety literature is handed out and posted around campus pretty frequently .It should'nt be a College under siege,ala Fort Apache the Bronx,with security locking themselves into dorms at night,running from door to door-peeking out windows like it's a homeless shelter. A corrupt Police Dept. was a neccessary ingredient to Yale's expansion.Perhaps mostly to the University Property division as you can see on-line they've acquired quite a number of residential homes/apt.blds,Paid consultants were paying bums/homeless/drugged roofers and anybody they can manipulate to document a dwelling for the City.. i can't say i blame jens, The student body is not for personnal use or gain by an expanding University or by the Union to slander an individual, help a bailbondsman,steer work to a vulture of an Attorney and chalk up arrests. if the City is the enemy and tormentor of the University then let it be known it's City Hall and it's terror of Lawyers/Union.It's City Hall in conjunction with your administrators beating down activism
None 4 years, 3 months ago
I live in the East Rock area.We have our share of muggings/robberies/etc. on occasion i like to step outside and breath the night air,look up at the sky,walk around the house a little,some excursions are a few minutes,i don't venture far..it can be 3 or four in the morning maybe 5,every so often. There are some over-reactionary folks out there as now i have a congregation building,,i can only surmise or speculate at this :do these "helpful"morons think i'm looking for drugs? are they on drugs? do they think they are assisting someone whether their help is wanted ,nobody asked them , i thought they were New Haven Register affiliates so i e-mailed the Co. i now have cloaked and daggered "security" that i need to have the men/woman in white coats remove. That was a good observation by ..anonymous,the criminal did'nt go to bed at 12, and just what was this criminal doing out at 3:15 ? there is nothing open at that hour, He would stick out like a sore thumb, unless two drunk students were tumbling around thinking each other was a mugger.. or over a girl...i bet she was hot
None 4 years, 3 months ago
perhaps it's a wall and cage around students only ,when the powers that be (which is a mystery as to how that i'll never know in a million ) when they get bored and/or can't find a local for their jolly's , They'll pull one from this cage ala Taylor from Planet of the Apes
None 4 years, 3 months ago
How about a system of access-controlled, climate-controlled underground tunnels connecting every Yale facility? That would cut street muggings by 50%. Then a student would get mugged only once every 4 months instead of once every 2 months. Which would put your chance of getting mugged during your 4 years here at about 0.005% instead of 0.01%.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Warning: What follows is an arguably irrelevant nit-pick.
An important article, useful, in psrticlar for giving the Yale community important information that Yale oficials apper disinclined to provide. However, was it necessary to include the last two paragraphs of the following: "Many students interviewed in the Calhoun courtyard Thursday night were alarmed when told about the incident.
Naima Sykes ’10 exclaimed, “What?” She stood speechless, eyes wide, for a moment.
Stevens, who was next to Sykes, then joked, “I think I’m gonna carry an assault rifle now.” "
These additional paragraphs stretch the notion of relevant Yale "daily news" to include the results of the writer's apparent yearnings for novelistic production (done perhaps "eyes wide, for a moment?") and some sort of near child-like desire to introduce the words "assault rifle" into the mix, regardless of their utter irrelevance to the very serious issues -- and otherwise well-handled -- at hand.
The reader can so feel the temptation of the writer to linger over other details of the exchange, that if the article had elaborated upon the details of the clothing, facial expressions of Sykes or Steven's, there would be little expression of surprise to ripple, reflected for a moment perhaps, across an otherwise calm face of a reader....
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Officers stationed inside are keeping warm. Yale has to hire more officers and security as this is a Union trick to manipulate the University and get their friends and relatives jobs..once these guys get the Union membership albeit through dirty vile tactics they pull the rule of three,Union members get hired anywhere before any resident or applicant .There will be a crime soon right before the eyes of these security officers or perpetuated by these same guys. If i step off of the bus at noon i have Caroline from Yale Street team/police dept. so far up my butt, Yes Caroline the white horses are the same as the black horses..of course..but they represent the PD as clients. He got knocked down,but he got up again,cause he's jacked up on illy,he got..
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Let's be realistic here, folks. Yale security should be redirected into slowing traffic, not trying to patrol every corner of the campus at all hours for the occasional homeless person. You are at least a hundred times more likely to be injured or killed in a car accident while at Yale than by crime.
Also, newsflash, Harvard, Columbia and Penn are much more dangerous; not only do they have a lot more random crime against students, but there are more traffic incidents (including several Harvard students killed by cars just in the past few years).
None 4 years, 3 months ago
without turning yale into a police surveillance state, there should be more visible foot and bike patrols at all times on the yale campus. especially for high traffic areas like cross campus. cops sitting in parked cars with their engines running is not enough. and while im on the issue of foot patrols, theres this really hot yale cop, blond, great build, whos always on bike patrol. last time i saw him was in silliman. hes hot. he should escort me around campus all the time.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Do you all remember the dual-incident a few years back where: 1) A grad student was mugged at Wall and Temple 2) Then cops were posted at that corner, and just sat in their running vehicle 3) Then a student was mugged at the very same corner a couple weeks later
Either replace the faux cops with ominous-looking surveillance cameras, or actually require them to, you know, do something. They do receive a paycheck, do they not?
None 4 years, 3 months ago
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Hmmm, fine ideas in regards to security issues. I'll skip the delusional ramblings of John D. in my comments. First and foremost there are 2 seperate departments at Yale responsible for our safety. The Yale Police and the totally seperate Yale Security Department. Most of the officers we see inside the colleges are the unarmed security officers with no police powers. The officers in the cars that have red/blue lights and guns- those are police. Once you step outside your college gate you enter the City of New Haven. You no longer are protected by the Yalie Mantle of Good and Order. Yale does not own the streets, and does not control the City Police or population. Believe it or not, once in the outside world you are actually considered an adult and must be responsible for your own safety. No coddling outside the gates for the babes of the influential and rich. You demand more security? Will you allow yale to post security at all entrances to residential colleges? Close all but one gate at night? Demand ID from visitors and put cameras in our courtyards? Fine students for leaving doors open? No? Then what do you want the University to do to protect you? Decide how far you're willing to go to feel safe before you criticise the results of our own wishes. The world is not safe and yale is not the World. Be aware of your suuroundings and realize we are in a depressed urban enviornment. Yale students in New Haven are mere game animals to the predators outside the gates.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
is not safe!
None 4 years, 3 months ago
"But many said the incident did not surprise them because the victim was walking alone despite past warnings from Yale officials to walk in groups in the early morning hours"
Blame the VICTIM! Blame the VICTIM!
Oh, yes, we mustn't make note of the obvious criminal element present in New Haven; hence, we must BLAME the VICTIM! You see, only when surrounded by the deeply frightening, darkly misogynistic "DKE, DKE, DKE" chanters do we point out a citizen's right to conduct themselves lawfully and with the reasonable expectation of safety!
Duelling victimhoods here, and the male Yalie is to be blamed in either case.
(As an aside: what the heck were you doing out alone at 3:45 a.m.? And given that the attacked was able to push the attacker down, why didn't he finish the job? Maybe kick his head in? Just wondering...)
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Yale's security situation is pathetic. My sympathies go out to the victim. But for the administration, you guys are unbelievably lucky that this is the worst sort of incident they've had to deal with lately.
Think about it. A STABBING? ON CROSS CAMPUS? IN FRONT OF CALHOUN? IN FRONT OF BASS? If that is not supposed to be the safest location at Yale, then I'm not sure what is. President Levin, Secretary Lorimer, Dean Salovey - Are you guys kidding me with this? How much will it take to get real security - like Columbia or Penn have - at Yale? What the hell are you waiting for?
We can talk about a "New Haven Renaissance" forever, or about social injustice as the root of the problem, or about preserving positive town-gown relations, whatever. Here's a fact: Yale's responsibility is to protect its students on its own grounds. And that is going to take a lot more money and time than what you guys are doing now. I've spent almost four years in paradise, but this is the one aspect of life at Yale where the administration has failed students to a degree that is disgusting - and almost criminal.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Dear Ben Silliman,
What kind of security do Columbia and Penn have that Yale doesn't?
None 4 years, 3 months ago
I have many friends on Cross Campus... I've walked on Cross Campus at night many times, and this incident just frightens me! Yale needs to improve their security if something like this occured in the middle of campus!
None 4 years, 3 months ago
New Haven = inner city period. with it comes a certain amount of expected crime at all hours of the day.
normal people are asleep at 3:15 in the morning...is there anything open besides a bar? there aren't many 24hr stores anymore because of increase of hold ups a couple of summers ago...
every bulletin reminds us all to not walk alone at night even in the Yale community, most streets are still open to the public. so until Yale builds solid steel walls around the whole campus. be smart and don't travel the streets alone, or the parks..take responsibility for your own safety because you will when you all graduate and live in the real world. or are you going to charge your future employers with sole responsibility for your safety? time to grow up.
validate the victim yes...the injury wasn't noticed until afterwards...the victim should've updated his incidence report with YPD.
be safe. be aware. be alert.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
I guess the criminal didn't go to bed at midnight like he was supposed to....
Sadly, this is no surprise. The streetlights in the area between Morse and HGS, right by Toad's, an area poorly lit even with the lights on, were out for a good month before Yale got around to fixing them.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Debating whose at fault is all well and good, but the most important question as yet to be answered:
Was the assailant white or black?
None 4 years, 3 months ago
actually, bright lighting isn't always the great safety measure people think it is. bright lighting creates high contrasts which means where there are shadows (and shadows are unavoidable) they will be darker and easier to hide in than in low light conditions. ideally there would be uniform low light conditions so your eyes can adjust and see more of what's in the shadows.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
This is really the limit. There's a lot of talk, and email-sending, but there seems to be a disturbing lack of any concrete action. Security just HAS to be stepped up.
None 4 years, 3 months ago
RE: Dear Ben Silliman, What kind of security do Columbia and Penn have that Yale doesn't?"
(I am not Ben S.) but i was thinking the same thing he was before i got to his comment. Penn has their security situation down. I lived there one year and there is NO COMPARISON between yale and upenn's security programs. Their campus is much better lit with blue phones in much more predictable locations/intervals and their security is much more active. Yale really does need to step it up in this regard. There should be police officers on foot and in vehicles STATIONED in main corridors such as cross campus and elm street AT ALL TIMES. Yale's roving foot patrol and car patrol system is just not cutting.
RE: 'was the assailant black or white' the assailant was biracial - half black, half white - so if you see anyone who is black or white after midnight and you are alone - you should run!
None 4 years, 3 months ago
Why are there officers patrolling INSIDE the colleges? There should be security stationed OUTSIDE to protect the students, and in areas close to the colleges, like cross campus. Yale security needs to be reformed, period.
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