Two charged in robbery
The Syracuse Police Department has charged two suspects with the Sept. 3 robbery of five men on the 100 block of Smith Lane, said Sgt. Tom Connellan.
Syracuse residents Nathaniel Flagg, 17, and Glen Hicks, 19, were charged with robbery in the first degree, Connellan said. They are being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center on $15,000 bail, according to Justice Center records.
Police are continuing to investigate whether these two suspects are the men responsible for the five recent on and off-campus robberies of Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students, Connellan said.
There were no SU or ESF students involved in the Sept. 3 robbery, but four days later an ESF student was robbed on the 100 block of Smith Lane, according to an article The Daily Orange published Sept. 9.
Flagg was also charged with an April 2008 attempted robbery of an SU student on the corner of Comstock Avenue and East Colvin Street, Connellan said.
SU’s Department of Public Safety has increased enforcement on and near campus despite the arrests, as victims and students continue to voice concern.
DPS sent an e-mail to the university community Thursday detailing the changes, which include expanded and significant overtime for Orange Watch patrols, said DPS Chief Tony Callisto.
‘I can’t say where or when because that would kind of compromise what we’re trying to do, but I will say I’ve authorized significant overtime,’ Callisto said.
The department has also increased undercover enforcement, Callisto said.
Other DPS initiatives include working with the Office of Off-Campus and Commuter Services to distribute safety precautions and information to students living in university neighborhoods.
National Grid, an electricity and natural gas company, will be repairing broken lights in some of the dimly lit areas where the robberies have occurred. The five recent robberies have shared several common themes – each took place near or after dark and in areas that are not well lit, Callisto said.
Lights have already been fixed in the Walnut Park area where three Alpha Tau Omega fraternity members were stabbed Sept. 20, he said.
The last time DPS stepped up enforcement like this was two years ago.
‘We had a similar challenge with a significant spike in (criminal) activity,’ Callisto said.
VICTIMS REACT
Josh Morrow, a sophomore environmental science major at ESF, was leaving his house on the 1000 block of Lancaster Avenue and heading to Marshall Street when he was robbed by two men Wednesday night.
Morrow said he sensed a man following him and went to cross the street to get away, when another man appeared. He was cornered on the street.
‘I thought, ‘This is not good,” Morrow said. ‘The guy on my right was like ‘Give us all your stuff,’ and then the guy on my left put a gun up to my chest.
‘That was pretty horrifying. I just put my hands up in the air and let them go through my pockets.’
The robbers stole Morrow’s iPod, wallet, cell phone and student ID.
Morrow said he was surprised to see the robberies hit so close to his home.
‘Honestly, I thought they were all happening much farther downtown,’ he said. ‘Officers I talked to said they haven’t happened this far up in a while but they have been moving closer and closer (to campus). It just goes to show it can happen anywhere.’
Morrow, who said he’s been jumpy since the robbery, said he would advise students to refrain from carrying valuable items unless completely necessary.
Morrow said he hopes students will be vigilant in case the men who robbed him are still at large.
‘Even if you just see someone walking down the street in a black sweatshirt with a hood up when it’s not raining – report it. Everything like that should go to the police,’ Morrow said.
Pat Manley, a graduate student in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, lives next door to Morrow on the 1000 block of Lancaster. The night after Morrow was robbed, two cars in Manley’s driveway were broken into.
‘I thought this didn’t happen on this street,’ Manley said. ‘I mean, we have kids and families a few houses down from us.’
‘We all thought it was really safe here,’ Morrow said. ‘We left our doors unlocked the first month and really weren’t worried about it. But now we’re all really cautious and really aware.’
– Asst. News Editor Abram Brown contributed reporting to this article.
Published on October 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm
