Authorities at the University of St. Thomas are warning students to be careful after a student was cut by a suspect during a robbery attempt on campus over the weekend.
According to a police report, St. Paul police were at Cleveland and Summit avenues around 12 a.m. last Saturday when they saw campus public safety personnel administering first aid to a man on the corner. St. Paul police stopped to assist and the victim said that two men asked for his wallet and then cut him with a knife on his right forearm.
The 18-year-old victim said the men tried to take his cell phone. When he argued with them, he was punched in the face and cut with the knife before they fled, said Sgt. Paul Paulos, a spokesman for the St. Paul police. Nothing was taken from the victim, Paulos said. The victim was taken to a hospital, according to the report.
"It is really unusual that someone was hurt," said Jim Winterer, spokesman for the university.
The university's public safety department sent out an alert Saturday about the incident and reminded students to pay attention to their surroundings, stay in populated and well-lit areas and call the public safety department for escorts.
Winterer said the university is proactive in informing students about potential public safety threats. That same day, university authorities alerted students to a student who was robbed near Ford Parkway and Cleveland Avenue, which is 1.5 miles from campus. A St. Thomas student reported last Friday at 2:15 a.m. that he was outside of a Jimmy John's sandwich shop trying to hail a cab when he was approached by four men who started to speak with him. The student believed he was being robbed so he gave them his phone and wallet. When the student's friends and Jimmy John's staff went outside, the suspects left.
