 "Photo: THE REVIEW/File Photo")
One female was knocked to the ground and had her back stomped upon until she let go. Her friend was choked around the neck and thrown down upon the ground. A third female was grabbed by her hair and struck across the face.
Two males were forced to lie in the street, then stripped of their belongings. The same day, three males and a female were held hostage in their home as they watched their possessions disappear with the suspects. Two others were assaulted a month prior.
Around Newark, student victims like these are being held up by the barrel of a gun.
A string of violent crimes has been occurring on and around the university's campus, Newark police said. Two non-student victims were assaulted at the end of July, followed by approximately five armed robberies of university students.
According to Cpl. Gerald Bryda of the Newark Police Department, this is relatively normal each fall.
"I think we're on par, unfortunately, with where we were last year and the year before,"Bryda said. "If you analyze the statistics, it has been pretty steady for the past several years."
Skip Homiak, director of campus and public safety for the university, said he agreed that this year's crime spree is not unusual when compared with previous years.
"I am not accepting of the fact that crimes are occurring, and if we point to past years as an example as to why they are happening this year, I am not really thinking that that is a very good answer," he said. "One crime is too many.
"We take the crimes seriously and our officers are taking ownership of the problems," Homiak said. "I don't want to write this off as we're having this trend because of anything that's happened in years past. We're taking it seriously and UD officials are taking it seriously, too."
Most of the incidents have happened off campus but in predominantly student-ridden areas, police said. Such locations include Haines Street, Winslow Road, the Newark Shopping Center and the Foxcroft Apartments. One incident happened directly on campus, in university parking lot 17 on the corner of Cleveland Avenue and North College Avenue.
"The reason we're obviously concerned about it is not just because it's within the community, but because several of the incidents have involved UD students," Homiak said.
Homiak said the attacks have been as early as 9:30 p.m. and as late as 2:30 a.m.
"Some common denominators are the crimes usually involve one student or small group of students walking home at night," he said. "They tend to occur late at night in areas that are considered questionable whether students should be walking there or not. Sometimes there is alcohol involved."
Homiak said it is important for students to recognize crime does occur across America, including Newark. He said some students put themselves in vulnerable positions by walking alone at night or walking home intoxicated.
"Students cannot put themselves in a position to be vulnerable and become prey," he said.
Homiak said he is not sure students are getting the message.
"I am not trying to minimize the fact that they are victims because essentially they have the right to walk down a street because that's not illegal, but you have to really think, 'What's the smartest thing to do?' " he said.
" 'Should I be walking down the street by myself at two o'clock in the morning? Or should I be taking advantage of the bus escort services that are provided?'
"Our students need to really clearly know that they have to be careful of crime, that it can happen to them and that they can't just go around putting themselves in vulnerable positions and things can't happen, because they can," he said.
Homiak said unfortunately, there is a criminal element to society.
"Just like you and I go to school or work everyday, some people set out from wherever they are to commit crimes, to live by drugs, whatever the case may be," he said.
Homiak said he thinks the current crime situation is that there is a group of people who are just looking around for vulnerable students.
"This is why it's important to not cast blame on the students or anybody who has been victimized by these people, these predators, these criminals," he said. "But the students on campus really need to know that this is real life - crime does occur and it's not just unique to campus or Newark, they are occurring across the country."
Bryda said crime rates often increase when students return in the fall because they can be easy targets.
"It is volume in numbers - the criminal element knows what to look for," he said. "An intoxicated college student probably will have cash in their pocket, a cell phone, an iPod. They know that you guys are back in town."
The Newark Police Department and the university's department of Public Safety are working together to form an initiative against these crimes.
According to the police, on Sept. 5, aggressive tactics led to the apprehension of four suspects that they believed to have committed an armed robbery at the Foxcroft Apartments on Wilbur Street, a complex that houses many students. One juvenile suspect was committed to the New Castle County Detention Center, while the three adult suspects were placed on bail and transported to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution.
These suspects, however, are not linked to the other crimes, Bryda said.
Detectives are still investigating the more recent crimes and following any leads they may have, he said.
In addition to a collaborative effort with the local police department, the university's department of campus and public safety is also working with the state attorney general's office regarding prosecution of the suspects, Homiak said.
"We're going to make sure for those who are arrested, that there's quality prosecution and we will ask that they pursue the most serious amount of time we can possibly give to them," he said.
Homiak said university President Patrick Harker and Executive Vice President Scott Douglass are concerned with the perceptions of some of these robberies.
"They are fully committed to everything we have to do to stop them and arrest them," he said. "They are very supportive of any efforts that the law enforcement community is doing and are well aware of our partnership with the NPD."
Harker did not respond to a request for comment on the crime spree.
Junior Tara Patel said she and other students feel left in the dark about the severity of these crimes.
"I luckily check my e-mail religiously, so I received the UD crime alert e-mail, briefly informing me on the robberies," she said. "But the thing is, most students either don't read mass e-mails from the university, or they immediately delete them, like I almost did."
Patel said it would be comforting to have the administration make a larger statement about these issues.
"Having President Harker put forward a reaction about this would show that the administration is aware and concerned and working toward a solution for this problem," she said. "I think now is the time to make a public statement and give students a sense of security before a student gets mugged and ends up being killed, and then they decide to make bigger moves."
Homiak said he feels the university has done a good job of informing the students of the crimes, as well as safety precautions.
He said the messages are put forth by various sources, such as resident assistants, presentations from Public Safety, announcements at freshmen orientation and an e-mail message, as well as on UDaily and the university Web site.
"I believe there is a concerted effort from UD's administration and the police department to make sure that students are well-informed of things that are happening," Homiak said. "We have a lot of resources for students to take advantage of."
Public Safety is looking into ways to increase its presence in the greater Newark community, he said.
Homiak said Public Safety depends on students to report crimes.
"We rely on the community to be our eyes and ears," he said. "Our officers are diligent, but we can't be everywhere at once and we rely on our partnership with our number one constituents - the students."
Although the Newark Police Department and the Department of Public Safety are looking into more stringent measures of security for the greater Newark area, Bryda said in comparison to last year, statistics show that robberies and burglaries are down this year.
"In fact, we've seen a decrease in violent crimes," he said.
Patel said she thinks calling this consistent with years past is just an excuse.
"These incidents shouldn't be happening at a constant rate at all because if it's something we've seen in the past, we should make sure it doesn't happen next time around," she said.
"These statistics do not take away from the fact that university students have been caught in harm's way," Patel said.
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