Philadelphia Police on Friday night arrested three female suspects in connection with a series of robberies this past week.
Two attempted robberies occurred on Thursday afternoon: one was on the 1500 block of Broad Street and another on the 1400 block of Diamond Street.
A robbery of a Temple student occurred on Friday at around 4 p.m. in the Progress Plaza parking lot.
Charlie Leone, executive director of Campus Safety Services, said in an email that the suspects in each incident drove a 2005 white Buick LaCrosse with a sunroof and the license plate number JRH-9730.
A TU Alert was sent out after each of the incidents.
Leone said that after the robbery on Friday afternoon, Temple Police sent a description of the suspects and their vehicle city-wide through the Philadelphia Police communication center.
Around 4 p.m. Thursday, the suspects stopped their vehicle on Diamond Street between 15th and Carlisle streets. One of the suspects then exited the vehicle and approached a non-Temple-affiliated woman around 20-24 years old.
The suspect and the victim struggled with the victim’s bag but did not obtain it, Leone said.
The attempted robbery resulted in the victim sustaining minor injuries when the suspect sliced her with a box cutter. Witnesses said they heard a scream and arrived on the scene shortly afterward.
Witnesses at the scene said they helped the victim by providing first aid to stop her bleeding. A police officer and ambulance arrived shortly after 4 p.m., and the alleged victim was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, they said.
Leone said Temple and Philadelphia police reviewed security footage from cameras in the area, including footage from the 7-Eleven on the corner of Broad and Diamond streets, where the suspects stopped for a short time before the Diamond Street incident.
“Originally we thought there were two robberies on Diamond Street until we sorted out the details,” Leone said.
Leone said that after sharing information with Philadelphia police, Temple Police learned of another attempted robbery near the corner of Broad and Jefferson streets, where another woman not affiliated with Temple reported a robbery attempt by two women driving the same car.
On Friday afternoon, the same suspects robbed a Temple student in the parking lot of Progress Plaza, in front of the Fresh Grocer. Leone said one suspect approached the student armed with a box cutter while another remained in the car. The suspects then fled west down Oxford Street in the car with the student’s backpack, which contained an iPad and $300.
The robbery happened in about 15 seconds and was captured by security cameras, Leone said. Temple Police reviewed the footage and confirmed that the suspects were the same people from Thursday’s attempted robberies, he said.
Police have not revealed how a third female who was arrested Friday was connected with last week’s incidents.
Bystanders in the area near the Progress Plaza robbery said they were not aware of the Friday incident about 45 minutes after it happened.
A security guard at Fresh Grocer, who wished to remain anonymous, said he did not know about the robbery, though he arrived on duty shortly after the incident.
Lian Parsons can be reached at lian.parsons@temple.edu and on twitter @Lian_Parsons
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