14-year-old boy charged with 15 accounts of robbery near Drexel University | The Triangle

14-year-old boy charged with 15 accounts of robbery near Drexel University

The Philadelphia Police have taken a 14-year-old boy into custody, charging him with 15 armed robberies that happened off Drexel University’s campus. The suspect’s name has not yet been released.

He was arrested Oct. 2, caught riding a purple bicycle tied to several of the robberies. The suspect lives close to the community where the robberies took place, on the 700 block of North 37th Street. All robberies took place between August and September of 2015, the most recent of which occurred Sept. 30.

The victim of the last robbery was a female who had been walking south on North Preston Street at approximately 6:45 a.m.. The suspect approached her, pulled out a black handgun and warned the female not to scream.

The victim stated that when she began to scream, the suspect grabbed her purse and pushed her into a parked vehicle, the force of which knocked her to the ground.

The strap of her purse broke and the suspect fled with the bag in hand around the corner of the 4000 block of Spring Garden Street, hopping onto a bicycle.

The victim followed in pursuit of her purse. She attempted to push her attacker off the bike. In response, the suspect pushed the victim to the ground and punched her twice in the face before making his getaway in eastward down the 4000 block of Spring Garden Street.

Police have stated that many of the robberies involved accounts of violence. This includes one incident involving a student who resisted robbery being pistol-whipped.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has not yet revealed whether the suspect will be charged as an adult.