Police: Temple University students robbed by armed intruders at off-campus residence
PHILADELPHIA - Authorities say a group of sleeping Temple University students were awoken by armed intruders who rounded up the students and brought them to the basement before robbing the house.
The break-in happened around 6 a.m. Friday at an off-campus property on the 1300 block of North 15th Street, according to police.
It's believed by police that 11 people - all between the ages of 20 and 22 - were asleep when the armed suspects entered the residence.
Authorities say the suspects rounded up everyone inside the home and gathered them in the basement.
"He was like ‘single file downstairs,' so we walked down the stairs back into the basement where everyone else was," Myla Vetterlein recalled. "Then the guys were laying on the floor with their legs tied up and they told all the girls to sit on the bed."
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The suspects allegedly stole credit and debit cards, cell phones, and the keys to a silver 2015 Lincoln MKZ with the Pennsylvania license plate KMF-1560.
"They would yell at us if we would cry," Morgan Black said. "I had, like, a panic attack midway through and I wanted to throw up and I was about to cry and I'm like ‘I can’t cry right now, they're just going to humiliate me'."
Investigators believe the suspects used the stolen Lincoln to flee the residence. No injuries were reported.
Temple off-campus safety called into question after recent home invasions
Authorities say two different off-campus student residences were struck by home invaders within a week. The recent spate of once again calls into question the safety of Temple students on and around a campus often besieged by crime.
"I knew this was going to happen, it was just a matter of time," Scott Black, a father of a victim, said. "You can imagine what these kids are going to do later as soon as they can decompress, you know, short-term, long-term, what the effects are going to be for my daughter and her fantastic friends."
Temple University said the incident happened outside the university's patrol zone and a spokesperson highlighted the institution's Best Nest program, meant to help students find off-campus housing that is within the Temple University Police Department's designated patrol area.
"Violence against one of us affects all of us," Vice President for Public Safety Jennifer Griffin said. "Any incident affecting a member of our community is treated with the utmost care and concern."