UPDATE (11:20 a.m.): An 18-year-old woman was robbed at gunpoint and pistol-whipped early Tuesday morning near 44th and Baltimore, according to police and reader reports. The robbery took place around 2:15 a.m. This report came from one of our readers, a close friend of the victim:
“…A friend of ours… was robbed at gun point around 2 a.m. this morning at 44th and [Baltimore]. She was with a female friend in Clark Park after having finished a shift at a local restaurant when two males approached her and demanded her bag. She resisted and one of the males “pistol whipped” her across her left arm, forcefully taking the bag. She chased the male who took her bag north on 44th st. [to 44th and Larchwood], screaming as she went, which woke my wife and I from our sleep. After the male got into a silver vehicle she came to our door, understandably upset and asking for help. We called local police who appeared to have already been notified by someone else in the community and they eventually took her to the station at 55th and Pine to make a statement to detectives.”
Police said that the male with the gun struck the victim about five times on her left arm during the struggle for her bag. The victim sustained lumps and bruises to the arm and was taken to the hospital for treatment, according to police.
Here’s the map of robbery reports in West Philly for the past two weeks (June 2-16, 2015). Note: the robbery described in this post is not included in the map.
Source: Crimereports.com
June 16th, 2015 at 12:26 pm
It’s amazing that in a neighborhood full of $500,000.00 houses that we have to deal with this. An 18-year old probably shouldn’t be in Clark Park at 2am but the crime in my neighborhood is ridiculous. The people who live in my neighborhood aren’t the ones committing these crimes….we’re the victims of low-life criminals who live west of 47th and Baltimore. Instead of coming into a nice neighborhood and robbing, assaulting and pistol-whipping the people in my neighborhood…why don’t “they” stay in their neighborhood and rob, stab, pistol-whip those people.
They don’t because the people west of 47th and Baltimore don’t have anything to steal. The people in my neighborhood are hard workers and shouldn’t have to deal with waves of crime throughout the year. Enough !!!!! We need a larger police presence since we payed so much to live in the neighborhood that we live in.
This IS a black/white issues because the people who are coming into my neighborhood to commit crimes are black and the majority of the people in my neighborhood are white. Apparently we are seen as soft targets because we are white….I’ve had enough. I hope somebody tries to rob me or tries to pistol-whip me. I am a legal gun owner and I would gladly unload my legal handgun into the chest of some criminal trying to take advantage of my neighborhood.
Enough is enough. White lives matter too !!!!!!
June 16th, 2015 at 12:46 pm
You sound nice.
June 16th, 2015 at 1:00 pm
I’d like to be clear that the purpose in sharing such information about crime in the neighborhood is simply to spread awareness in the hopes that it will lead to increased alertness and appropriate justice. The reality is that University City does not exist in a bubble and its occupants are subject to human brokenness both from within and from without the immediate community. Crimes are going to happen. My hope is that we can react to them in ways that promote health and safety as opposed to hate and violence.
June 16th, 2015 at 1:11 pm
Hey West Philly Resident, this is West Philly Local, you’re looking for the philly.com comments section
June 16th, 2015 at 1:18 pm
I am nice….I’m just sick of not feeling safe in my neighborhood.
Awareness ? Everyone is aware of the fact that University City is right next to the neighborhood that the Fresh Prince went to Bel Air to get away from. I’m very alert when I am coming home late and I have to make sure I don’t get robbed walking from my car to my front door.
We should install giant 20 foot tall fences to keep “them” out of our community. Maybe they could cover the outside of the wall with job applications and paternity tests….that’ll keep them away.
React in ways that promote health and safety ? How’s that working ? Has the crime rate in University City gone down ?
No…it hasn’t.
June 16th, 2015 at 1:19 pm
The crime I am talking about happens in West Philly and it was reported by West Philly Local.
June 16th, 2015 at 1:28 pm
@ West Philly Resident
Just to be clear we have reported multiple incidents in the past when the victim has been African American so crime is not simply an issue of race. Your comments are off-base, divisive and destructive. We try to promote dialogue on the site that is productive and inclusive. So consider this a warning.
– editor.
June 16th, 2015 at 1:29 pm
I meant on account of your racist hate-mongering
June 16th, 2015 at 1:35 pm
@West Philly Resident: But I do appreciate that your thoughts on race and poverty are rooted in the intro to a 90s sitcom
June 16th, 2015 at 1:43 pm
So whats different after 47th and Baltimore? why is that considered your line?
June 16th, 2015 at 2:33 pm
I lived in West Philly for 10 years and I think this is the first time I’ve heard of someone advocating Apartheid so overtly as a solution. Crimes like this happen all of the time, all over the city, the country and the world and throughout history. They are the acts of individuals not of entire ethnic groups or social classes. That neighborhood is regularly policed not only by the city police but also by the very gungho UPENN police. And you even have the superfluous yellow jacketed UCD ambassadors on bikes. You are about as policed as you can get. Just because you have a more expensive house and bigger bank account, you are not entitled to more public resources. If you honestly think that you can preserve the charm and beauty of your neighborhood by building a 20 foot fence around it you are certainly not an urban planner. You would only be killing your neighborhood and destroying the essence of why people pay half a million dollars for a home there. You should move to a gated community out in the suburbs somewhere where you can live with all of the other elitists who fear poor people and minorities.
June 16th, 2015 at 2:51 pm
If you actually are a West Philly resident, you should know that you live in the safest neighborhood in the city and, despite you being so “alert” you seem to have missed that there are hundreds of non-white people living all around you. You asked if the crime rate in University City has gone down. Uhh… yes. By about 75% over what it was in the 1990’s when you were watching Fresh Prince singing about Belair. Between UCD, the Penn Police, and the Philly cops you can walk safely all over the neighborhood. I know because I’ve been doing it since 1999.
June 16th, 2015 at 3:31 pm
@West Philly Resident, I resent your comments, as do 99.99% of the people who utilize this website. I personally live on the mean streets west of 47th street where O.K. Corral style gunfights happen on a daily basis (at least in your imagination). 49th street to be specific. There’s nothing wrong with being prepared and being willing to defend yourself and others. I am a gun owner and carry a concealed firearm, not out of fear but out of a realistic understanding that some people will take your life for your possessions. Your hatred and ignorance is troubling to say the least. If you wanted a vanilla life, move to the northeast, or better, out of Philly. This is a diverse city and your bigotry is pathetic. There are a lot of people in this community who live a life you could never comprehend or understand, and your lack of compassion for human beings who you cant relate to is as equally disgraceful. Get a life.
June 16th, 2015 at 4:09 pm
Re: West Philly Resident, I’d like to think this is a troll. Such inflammatory comments! Clearly, WPR doesn’t understand this wonderful (and DIVERSE) community. Go live somewhere else, if this our little piece of heaven isn’t good enough for you.
June 16th, 2015 at 4:13 pm
@Yikes, agreed that @West Philly Resident is a troll and that we should probably stop engaging with him, although he seems to have showed himself out anyway
June 16th, 2015 at 9:08 pm
I’m a West Philly resident on 48th street.
Crime matters and affects many types of folks.
Anecdotes is not the same as data.
Part of the reason that we are aware of crime is that
The internet affords such awareness.
Are crimes actually happening more or less than decades ago? No idea, but our awareness of them, regardless, is higher.
That being said, carry concealed if you must. Just be trained and use lethal force as the means of absolute last resort (unlike many criminals who carry guns and use them because they have been disrespected on the street).
June 16th, 2015 at 10:30 pm
Personally I am pleased that young females feel safe hanging out in Clark Park in the middle of the night; that’s an excellent sign for University City.
But no neighborhood is completely safe. And parks officially close after 9 p.m. Most people who use parks after hours are mellow, peaceable people. Still, one should remain aware of one’s surroundings if one is in the park in the wee hours.
And while it may seem like a convenient place to sneak a drink in, or get high in some other way – really the smart partier seeks private property for these activities.
June 16th, 2015 at 11:03 pm
@West Philly Resident: Thank you for pointing out that you are nice. Your nasty, racist comments kind of had me thrown for a second. Have you thought of moving to the suburbs? You know – way, way west of 47th and Baltimore…
June 17th, 2015 at 10:57 am
I very much appreciate the guts of this young woman to chase down and do what she can to stop crime. I will note with equal emphasis that her reaction also comes with serious danger as the assailant was armed. She clearly did not want to give up her belongings nor would tolerate the violence being perpetuated on her. i think the desire for some justice in the world is there and hopefully it will be found in some other more peaceable fashion.
July 1st, 2015 at 10:55 am
@West Philly Resident, please we are definitely not going to pull the race card. Blacks are the way they are because of the ”Europeans”. People of that decent are the most wicked people you ever want to meet. People around the world hate America and would like to see it parish, and it isn’t because of black people, throughout history your people have been murders, thieves, rapist, the list goes on forever. Get mad at you own people for making times like this happened. Remember ”Black Wall Street” Rosewood” we were well off until your people came to destroy!!!!