A Vanderbilt University student was assaulted early Sunday morning on the Lauinger Library steps, university officials said Thursday.
At about 5 a.m. Sunday, the student was approached by two males, who demanded that he hand over his money, according to a Department of Public Safety broadcast e-mail. When he refused, the suspects physically assaulted him.
Two Georgetown students intervened when violence broke out, causing the perpetrators to flee campus in a car, the e-mail said. The Vanderbilt student did not lose any money or property but sustained a minor injury above his left eye, which was treated at Georgetown University Hospital.
Both DPS and the Metropolitan Police Department responded to the incident but were unable to locate or identify the suspects. One of the suspects, however, returned to Georgetown the next night.
According to the DPS e-mail, one of the Georgetown students who thwarted the previous night’s crime spotted the suspect walking near Village A with four other people shortly after midnight on Tuesday morning. He notified a DPS officer who contacted the Metropolitan Police Department. Officers detained the five men and arrested the suspect on charges of assault with intent to rob. The other four men were released.
University officials praised both the Georgetown students and the DPS officers involved in the arrest.
“What needs to be recognized are the students who intervened to help and were then instrumental in identifying the suspect the following night,” said David Morrell, vice president for university safety.
Morrell added that it was “great cooperation by the students to get the information to DPS and then help to identify the perpetrator.”
DPS Director Darryl Harrison commended the DPS officer who single-handedly detained five men early Tuesday morning and said that his act “speaks for itself.”
He also lauded the cooperation between Georgetown students and DPS.
“The teamwork and partnership involved in this was exceptional,” Harrison said.
– HOYA Staff Writer Elise Craig contributed to this report
