Saxon residents robbed at gunpoint

Assailants wielding a semi-automatic hand gun allegedly held up
two student-athletes in their Saxon suite early Sunday, stealing
thousands of dollars worth of their property before driving away.
Saxon K-14 was the campus home of four athletes, including freshman
Matthew Bruno, the top high school sprinter in California last
year. The three suspects who stormed and robbed the suite shortly
after 1 a.m. are still at large. Bruno and fellow freshman sprinter
Chris Dunbar were held in their room by three men, two with guns
and one with a nightstick, for about 25 minutes, Dunbar said.
Dunbar said the suspects stole property belonging to him and his
roommates, including clothes, shoes, cell phones, a PlayStation 2
and laptop computers. A notice from university police adds that the
suspects additionally took DVDs, CDs, games and cash. Bruno would
not discuss the robbery Tuesday. Dunbar said no significant
physical harm was done to him or Bruno and that he has “no
idea at this time” who the assailants were. Police released
composite sketches of the suspects late Tuesday. The police
log’s description, though, was vague: UCPD’s report
describes three male suspects, wearing all black. One had a goatee
and shaved hair according to the report, and a bulletin posted on
the UCPD Web site says the victims may have heard the getaway
vehicle leave, but that they did not see it. An investigation of
the crime is under way, said Nancy Greenstein, UCPD director of
community services. UCPD has not ruled out UCLA students or anyone
else at this point, Greenstein said. Bruno and Dunbar’s
roommates were not home at the time of the crime, according to
Dunbar. But they are still considered victims since some of their
property was also taken. Freshman Demetre Howard also lives in the
suite and is a member of the track team. “I’m
disappointed that something like that would happen,” Howard
said of the robbery. The fourth roommate, though not in the report,
is also considered a victim, said UCPD Lt. Manny Garza. Joe
Tomasello, a redshirt freshman cornerback on the football team,
lived in the room and also had property stolen. All four were moved
out of the Saxon suite after the robbery. The moves were made at
the students’ requests, said Michael Foraker, director of
housing. Garza would not comment about whether police had an idea
of the motive behind the robbery. The track team practiced as
scheduled Monday and Tuesday. A regular team meeting was held after
Tuesday’s drills. Dunbar and Bruno stayed late to talk with
men’s head coach Art Venegas and sprinting coach Derek
Loudenback. After the meeting broke, Loudenback said the athletes
were moving on from the incident and that he told them to “be
safe and watch out for tailgaters.” Venegas said,
“I’m mainly trying to care for my athletes’
well-being. I’m making sure they have continuity in athletics
and academics.”

Hill shaken once again Sunday morning’s armed robbery
marks the second time in under three months that a serious crime
has been committed in the heart of on-campus student housing. In
December, a victim was allegedly raped by students visiting campus
from Carson High School. Reaction from those on the Hill was
similar for both occurrences: students were shaken, and many said
safety measures should increase. Amaechi Okono, a second-year
biology student, lives upstairs from the victims’ room and
was out late that night for her birthday. But the news of the
crimes has left her “really scared.” “We usually
keep our door open. Now it is always closed,” she said. Every
suite in Saxon and Hitch has its own entrance and rooms are not as
protected as rooms in the high-rise residential halls. While some
students said they still feel fairly safe around the suites, Okono
and others said security on the Hill should be stepped up.
Greenstein said it is typical for patrol to increase temporarily in
an area where there was recently a serious crime. She added that
Office of Residential Life staff had discussed with UCPD the
possibility of getting more Community Service Officer patrols on
the Hill, though nothing permanent has yet been implemented.
Tuesday evening, students met with UCPD officers and ORL officials
near the Saxon volleyball courts to discuss possible ways to
improve safety. Jack Gibbons, associate director of ORL, said
safety measures have already been taken for students living in the
suites. Lights have been added, trees removed, and more emergency
call boxes put in place, he said. “We’re probably going
to see the evolution continue,” he said of the possibility
for future safety measures. Many of the students who attended the
meeting said they thought they deserved to know about the crime
earlier. And even early Tuesday ““ two days after the robbery
““ many students hadn’t heard the news. “I
don’t think many people know about (the robbery),” said
second-year undeclared student Avi Muhtar Tuesday afternoon. Muhtar
moved in next door to the victims’ former room at the
beginning of the quarter. Muhtar said the police came to his room
at around 3 a.m. Sunday to inquire about whether the neighbors had
heard or seen anything during the time of the crime. The door to
Muhtar’s suite was open when the police stopped by and Muhtar
and his roommates were oblivious to what had happened
““ just after the robbery. That thought now frightens
Muhtar, who on Tuesday still didn’t know much about the
robbery. “Somebody getting robbed out of the blue
doesn’t make much sense to me,” said Muhtar, who added
he heard nothing from RAs or anyone else about the robbery. Suzanne
Seplow, director of ORL, would not say if RAs had been specifically
asked not to discuss the robbery. But Alfred Nam, an assistant
housing director, said housing officials were late to get the news
from UCPD. “We literally did not know what happened,”
he said. Still, others thought that ORL could have kept students
better-informed. “They should make us aware of it,”
said Kenneth Ho, a first-year physical science student who lives in
Saxon’s H building. “You don’t want to have your
eye on your back everyday.” With reports from Shaun Bishop,
Menaka Fernando, J.P. Hoornstra, Rachel Makabi, Christian Mignot,
Cuauhtemoc Ortega and Gilbert Quinonez, Daily Bruin Senior
Staff.

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