Student Robbed Near Quincy

A male undergraduate student was allegedly mugged at knife point Monday night, according to a community advisory e-mail issued by the Harvard University Police Department yesterday morning.

The student was walking on Plympton Street between Mass. Ave. and Mt. Auburn Street at about 11:45 p.m. on Monday night, when he was allegedly approached by a man holding a knife, the e-mail stated. The armed man allegedly demanded the student’s property, and the victim handed over his Ipod and money. The alleged perpetrator fled, and the student was left unharmed, the e-mail said.

The student has stated that his alleged attacker was wearing a bandana, but could provide no further description, according to the e-mail.

An individual was briefly detained for the crime Monday night, according to HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano.

Loyal B. Egan ’12 said he observed a handcuffed man sitting outside Quincy House surrounded by police around midnight Monday night.

There were about four police cruisers and a police van parked on Plympton Street and Mass. Ave., according to Egan. He also observed a college-aged man entering a police cruiser with HUPD officers.

“[An officer] told me that somebody was mugged at knife point right on Plympton, right outside The Crimson,” Egan said.

Officers were searching the immediate area with flashlights, according to Egan.

Because the incident did not occur on an area of campus that qualifies as University property, the case will be handled by the Cambridge Police Department, according to the advisory e-mail.

No one has been arrested for the crime, according to CPD spokesperson James DeFrancesco.

The CPD believes that the robbery is an isolated incident, DeFrancesco said. No police log entry was yet available from the CPD documenting the alleged crime.

At this time there is no reason to believe that the armed robbery is related to a shooting that occurred yesterday in Kirkland House, according to Catalano.

This year, the Harvard student community has received e-mail advisories about six robberies or attempted robberies that have occurred since August 2008.

HUPD was dispatched for 14 robberies last school year, three of which occurred on Harvard’s Cambridge campus, according to the HUPD Web site.

—Staff writer Emily J. Hogan can be reached at ejhogan@fas.harvard.edu.