Two Students Robbed at Gunpoint at Hill and Oxford

Submitted by PackardChug on

I'm hearing this from friends. The two girls are giving statements of the incident as I type this. Any students reading this, please make sure you get home safely.

profitgoblue

December 9th, 2010 at 9:47 AM ^

How are those guys still walking around after getting hit with a bat?  I keep an aluminum bat in my car for just these kinds of occasions.  I sure as hell hope that the countless hours in the batting cage in HS will ensure that one swing leaves the recipient on the ground!

Section 1

December 9th, 2010 at 10:17 AM ^

It's a rough neighborhood.  Guys up there belonging to secret organizations, living in houses with odd symbols posted outside, speaking to each other in code, flashing secret signs and secret handshakes.  Abusing substances like beer, and gin.  Ritual initiations.  Pledge pins.  They have parties, where they invite the equivalent secret female organizations. 

Representative photo:

bkrad81

December 9th, 2010 at 1:52 AM ^

The University just sent out the alert. They took the girls' cell phones and cash....

It's amazing I read this on mgoblog 40 min before the UM alert was sent out.

UMdad

December 9th, 2010 at 7:45 AM ^

Serious note - that is terrifying for those girls and telling for the state of the population right now.  I know that there have always been crimes on campus, but it does seem that lately there have been a lot more stories of robberies and violent crimes on or around the campus.  I used to volunteer for project SAFEwalk - which hopefully is still active.  It doesn't prevent crime but it keeps students from having to walk anywhere alone.  Anyone still in school should use it or volunteer.

Slightly lighter note - that is why I made a point to never have any money, cash or otherwise, while I was in school.

formerlyanonymous

December 9th, 2010 at 8:05 AM ^

It's been the same thing near the campus I'm at in Texas. They've had 28 armed burglaries in the last month, all within a month of campus. It's totally unheard of for this area.

Starting with Thanksgiving weekend, a group of men started breaking into student housing in apartments around campus. Apparently it was so easy with students gone for the weekend, they started to try their luck during the day while kids are at classes and on weekends.

I work on campus over the break and I've already been alerted by the higher ups in the administration that they'll be stepping up security over break because of it. They talk it up as if I should be worried about just working in the dorm apartments over break, which really, is probably very true.

Blue1972

December 9th, 2010 at 8:37 AM ^

Graduated in 1972.  I was robbed at gunpoint at Hill and Washtenaw during finals week Dec 1971.  Took my wallet with mu "lucky $2 bill," but most importantly took my Rose Bowl Vouchers that I had just picked up earlier that day.  Was able to get them re-issued.  Unfortunately, college campuses have been easy pickins for years, and yes, there were guns back that many years ago!

MgoblueAF

December 9th, 2010 at 3:25 AM ^

I lived at Hill and Oxford for my last 3 yrs at D Chi. The only time we ever saw and encountered trouble was in the Summer term when the Ypsi crowd swam up the road. I imagine the girls were prob in one of the 2 sororities.. Bummer

BongoMan

December 9th, 2010 at 3:31 AM ^

After reading the e-mail I realized that I had been walking home from the ugli (S Forest, south of Hill) around that time. Definitely going to keep me up all night. Or maybe it's because I have this paper...

profitgoblue

December 9th, 2010 at 7:11 AM ^

If you get held up at gunpoint, what do you do? Do you simply do as asked? Or do you look for an opportunity to run or go Postal on their a--es? With a wife and kid at home, I'm giving them everything they want and probably offering more valuables they may have missed.

BiSB

December 9th, 2010 at 8:07 AM ^

With a wife and kid at home, I'm giving them everything they want

First things first: Hide your kid, hide your wife.

But beyond that, I've pretty much given up on the idea that, if confronted, I would be able to kick the crap out of my attackers.  My options are down to "give them all of my stuff" and "run like a screaming little girl, possibly while crying."

GVBlue86

December 9th, 2010 at 9:50 AM ^

I saw walker texas ranger once and he showed how to stop a robber who is holding a gun to you. Its simple really. You chop the inside of his wrist and the back of his hand simultaneously and the gun flies out of his hand every time. Then all you need to do is use some crazy cowboy karate to disable the attackers.

Used to think i could do that...now, cry and hand over everything while saying thank you.

FieldingBLUE

December 9th, 2010 at 8:44 AM ^

I was robbed at gunpoint in AA in 1998, while delivering subs for Jimmy John's. It was a setup, we figured out later.

Guy called JJ's, ordered subs to apartments on north side of town. I went out on delivery about 2:15 am. Arrived at the door, note saying buzzer was broken, which was not surprising back then. The note said to use the back door, which I could see was open through the hallway. As I walked around the building, a guy with a ski mask (true story, bro) and a gun greeted me. I nearly shat myself. I didn't carry a wallet, thankfully, but a money clip. As he demanded the money, I slipped it out of the clip in my pocket so as not to give him my ATM card, credit card, license, etc.

After he grabbed the money off the ground (where he told me to put it), he demanded the sandwiches, which had been ordered specially (no mayo, plus italian dressing, etc.). In retrospect, that was pretty damn funny. "And the sandwiches, too!" He then told me to run and not look back. I've never sprinted that quick in my entire life.

Turned out, I should've never gone on that delivery since he didn't give a call back number, which the manager should have realized and not sent me out. (It was policy to not delivery without a phone number on an order.)

The AA Jimmy John's instituted a drop box after that event, as the thief got away with about $175 in tips from that evening. They never caught him, despite sending a team of dogs up there to look for him in the woods. I tried to deliver once a few weeks later, but was too freaked out. 

I've since come to be thankful for the experience, as it helped me thwart an attempt to be robbed while I lived in Chicago. The guy said he had a gun, but I could tell he didn't, having seen one in that situation before. I'm more aware of my surroundings and also realize that this kind of thing can happen most anywhere, not just in "bad" neighborhoods. In fact, I've lived in a few, and these things tend not to happen there as often. But that's anecdotal.

All that said, it's not a fun experience and I was creeped out for a long time afterward.

CRex

December 9th, 2010 at 9:05 AM ^

in public I'm always giving the guys my wallet.  I have a CCW but even if I'm carrying I'm not going to go for it.  Also I never carry it when I go drinking, so odds are if I get mugged outside of a bar I won't have it on me anyway. Long story short there is nothing in my wallet taking a bullet over.

Plus in Ann Arbor with how crowded it is, start a gun fight and you might give some bystander injured. Human life, or even some time in the hospital to recover from a non lethal shot, isn't worth the shit in my wallet. I'd be out my beer money for the night, 10 bucks to get a replacement driver's license and about four bubble tea stamp cards.

The scary one is the home invasion style thing. If I get mugged on some Ann Arbor street I know the guy is likely to just take my money and run. He doesn't want to linger around due to the fact other people are likely moving around and he definitely doesn't want to pop off a shot due to the noise. Two guys come into my apartment though and the question is why are they there. They can lose the door and linger. So then i have to worry about if they're just there for my wallet and cellphone (and maybe the TV) or about ugly things like rape, etc. Some guy forces my door open when I'm sleeping in bed beside my fiancee and the country boy in me says "Get the .357 from the night stand and start drilling holes."

In public though, always just hand it over. You have good odds they're just going to take the money and bail.

tk47

December 9th, 2010 at 9:20 AM ^

the country boy in me says "Get the .357 from the night stand and start drilling holes."

I know the subject of this discussion is a very serious matter, and none of this should really be funny, but ... this made my morning.

Talpostal

December 9th, 2010 at 8:36 AM ^

I wish that the police in Ann Arbor were a little bit better at going after serious crimes such as this one, last year's arson, and the party shooting and a little bit worse at breaking up parties and ticketing adults for stepping foot on the sidewalk with a beer. Even if it has nothing to do with results it's just not sending the right message to residents.

PackardChug

December 9th, 2010 at 8:42 AM ^

Student's are REALLY starting to get pissed off with the AAPD. Going back to last year there's nearly 30 unsolved crimes invovling students in ann arbor. Half of them robbery of individual persons on the street, usually brandishing a knife. A student died from arson. Now guns are popping up all over (BoA armed robbery, State and Granger shooting, and now this). The area in which a lot of the robberies happen are usually along oakland and yet the AAPD refuese to patrol those areas. The City of Ann Arbor refuses to install lights in that area, although MSA has been lobbying for that since at least my freshman year (i'm a senior and I know this was an issue before my freshman year).

Yet the AAPD have now resorted to dressing in Michigan gear on weekends, pretending to be alumni, to bust people for either MIPs or BS public intoxes. The police will send several squads up and down packard, greenwood, and state on gameday to ticket the hell out of everyone. Yet on a school night it takes DPS three hours to send out an alert to the student body.

It's REALLY starting to feel like the AAPD just doesn't give a fuck about 1/3 of its population

CRex

December 9th, 2010 at 8:49 AM ^

Also those ATM muggings.  They crop up every year a few times.  Lone guy or a girl gets some money from an ATM, turns around and some big guys say "Give me your money".  A couple of these happen every year and no one gets caught.  I have to think AAPD has sone small, college age looking, non threatening female office on their force.  Have her wander in plain clothes, go to an ATM with a bunch of other plain clothes officers in the vicinity and wait for them to try to mug her.  Actually I know they have officers like they because they use to infiltrate student parties.  

Like PackardChug said you see more AAPD action at football tailgates than you see on Saturday night when you have a bunch of drunken kids who are easy targets.  

DPS actually gives a shit about students I've found, but they really only have the staffing to cover campus. 

Now if the criminals are dumb enough to forget to feed the meter, well then, AAPD (or at least the meter maids) are going to swarm their asses.  

CRex

December 9th, 2010 at 8:39 AM ^

There was this robbery, the home invasion with the shotguns, etc.  Now I'm stuck constantly arguing with my fiancee about how she should not be out jogging alone at night.  She's used to thinking of Ann Arbor as safe and refuses to admit times are changing.  

Personally I kind of worry about AAPD's ability to actually do anything meaningful.  It's Ann Arbor, relatively safe and for years the only thing they've seemed to excel at is raiding parties.  They don't exactly have a lot of experience in dealing with this kind of thing.  DPS as always has no suspects to quote the Daily Crime notes.  

TatersGonnaTate

December 9th, 2010 at 8:47 AM ^

90% of the Daily Crime notes are along the lines of "Bologna sandwich missing.  Police have no suspects."  Sort of a joke.  But yeah, AAPD does seem more concerned with shaking down citizens than tracking down criminals

Beavis

December 9th, 2010 at 8:45 AM ^

Man... I remember the days in Ann Arbor when crime was more like watching your buddy fend off a homeless man on your front lawn with a beer bottle / stick, or when you were walking home from Rick's and decided it would be a good idea to throw an El Gordo in some kid's face.