Freshman robbed at gunpoint near Sadler Hall
A Syracuse University freshman was robbed at gunpoint by two men near the Irving Avenue parking garage at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, according to an e-mail issued by the Department of Public Safety. The men showed what appeared to be a sawed off shotgun.
Ben Tepfer, a television, radio and film major and former asst. news editor at The Daily Orange, said the pair took his cell phone and his wallet, which had $10, his driver’s license, SU ID and Bank of America card. He was not injured.
After pushing Tepfer up against a fence and robbing him, the pair ran north on Irving Avenue and got into a silver-colored sedan driven by a third male suspect, according to the e-mail. The sedan drove south on Irving Avenue and then west on East Raynor Avenue, which would be the last time the three suspects were seen, the e-mail said.
Tepfer said he was walking to Sadler Hall when he noticed a sedan drive slowly past him. A few minutes later, he noticed two men walking toward him.
Half a block from Sadler, the man asked Tepfer what possessions he had while the other pulled out the shotgun. Tepfer gave the man his cell phone, wallet and keys.
‘What do you have, what do you have? Is this all you have? I’ll shoot you if don’t give everything up,’ one man said, according to Tepfer.
The man searched Tepfer and told him to leave the scene. Tepfer said the men threw the keys at him and got into the sedan as he walked away.
Tepfer said the thing that surprised him most was that the men chose a spot close to campus where DPS patrols regularly.
‘I thought, ‘I’m right in front of Sadler, I’m not going to get shot,” Tepfer said.
Tepfer said he wished he had been more aware of his surroundings and had run when he first noticed the sedan.
‘All these people are like, ‘Why were you walking alone?’ I really didn’t think it was that big a deal,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard of these sort of things before, but it’s so rare I didn’t think it could happen to me.’
Lt. Joe Cecile and Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department did not return phone calls Sunday. DPS Sgt. Charles Fiesinger declined to provide additional details.
Published on April 12, 2009 at 12:00 pm
