This morning, Public Safety emailed an alert, describing the mugging of a student this past Saturday outside of McBain. The email included the location and time of the mugging, along with pictures of the suspected assailant. However, the alert failed to mention any sort of exceptional violence, even though the victim, Mason Fitch, CC ’12, tells Bwog that the attack seemed “much more violent then similar muggings I remember from the past.” The assailant, he recalled, “tackled me from behind and started hitting me” before he “kicked me in the face” and finally threatened to “slice me.” Mason also mentioned the unusual and concerning time of the mugging: 1pm in the afternoon. This comes as the latest (and maybe most violent) event in a string of incidents at Columbia during break: the three campus break-ins and an attempted mugging of a student by two kids on College Walk. We wish Mason a speedy recovery.

See the full security alert with pictures of the suspect here, and compare the accounts of the Public Safety announcement with a fuller version of Mason’s story below.

Public Safety: On Saturday, January 15, 2011, at approximately 1:10 pm, A Columbia University student was the victim of an assault and robbery on 113th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. CCTV review by CU Investigations showed the victim walking south, with the suspect shown below following him from 114th and Broadway. After the incident, the suspect ran east on 113th Street and then south on Amsterdam Avenue.

Mason Fitch, CC ’12: I was mugged on 113th [on January 15th] just after 1pm – only steps away from McBain. I really feel like everyone needs to know about this since it was so unusual – it was 1pm, right off of Broadway on 113th, and much more violent than most of the muggings I remember from the past.  I was walking from my dorm, Broadway, to pick up lunch at Symposium when the guy (young, black, 5’10 or so, black jacket w/ red hoody underneath, red and white sneakers) tackled me from behind and started hitting me as he searched my pockets for my wallet and phone. When he couldn’t find it, he got back up, kicked me in the face several times, got back on top of me, and threatened me that he would “slice me” if I didn’t give him my phone, at which point I relented.  He took my wallet and phone. The NYPD was called, and I ran into McBain to tell the security guard to alert Public Safety.  Though I didn’t request it, the NYPD called paramedics to meet me at the police station.  I haven’t been given any updates, but I assume they haven’t caught him.

On Saturday afternoon, a student was mugged outside of McBain. Only
this morning did Public Safety send an alert to the student body. The
alert mentions location and time of the mugging, along with pictures
of the suspected assailant, but it doesn’t mention any of the
violence. However, the victim, Mason Fitch, CC ’12, tells Bwog that
the attack “was much more violent,” the victim told Bwog, “then
similar muggings I remember from the past.” The assailant, he recalls,
“tackled me from behind and started hitting me” before he “kicked me
in the face” and finally threatened to “slice me.” Of course, this is
only the latest (and most violent) robbery to occur at Columbia over
break. Don’t forget about the string of campus break-ins
(http://bwog.com/2011/01/05/swiper-no-swiping-2/) and that attempted
mugging of a student by two little kids on College Walk
(http://bwog.com/2011/01/08/alleged-attempted-robbery-results-in-arrests/).
Yes, it seems that crime has invaded our little Columbia bubble. Maybe
someone should call Sudhir Venkatesh
(http://www.sudhirvenkatesh.org/books/gang-leader-for-a-day)? Read the
full email from Mason and the Public Safety announcement after the
jump!