Three on-campus robberies occur within three hours of each other

LSUPD believes the three robberies are related.
The first robbery, which happened at approximately 8:15 a.m., occurred after a female victim was approached by a black male outside of Broussard Hall who asked if he could used her cell phone. After completing the call, the suspect ran off with the victim’s phone.
The second attempt took place outside of West Campus Apartments at approximately 9:32 a.m. The female victim was walking when she took her laptop out of her book bag, at which time a black male approached her and grabbed her computer. After yelling at the suspect while holding onto her computer, the suspect ran off.
At approximately 9:45 a.m., another robbery took place outside of the 459 Commons. A male student was approached by a black male who asked to use the student’s cell phone, but ran off before using the phone. The victim was able to see the suspect get into a older model truck with another suspect.
Monday’s robberies occurred just five days after an armed robbery on Highland Road at Tower Drive.
According to Lalonde, the victim was walking down Highland Road when he was approached by a man wearing a mask.
The suspect then punched the victim in the face with the hand in which he held a gun, knocking the victim to the ground. While the victim was on the ground, the suspect stole his cell phone and escaped in a grey-colored Toyota SUV with another suspect.
These recent robberies have caused LSUPD to step up patrols throughout campus.
“We will be stepping up our patrols in light of recent events; we are reallocating resources in order to be more proactive to stop incidents like this from happening,” Lalonde said. “We are encouraging students to report any and all suspicious behavior and to be aware of their surroundings. By traveling in groups, students can lessen the opportunity for incidents like this to occur.”