Undergraduate Robbed in JFK Park

Marking the fourth Harvard-related violent crime in a week, an armed robbery occurred last Wednesday evening in JFK Park across the street from Eliot House, according to the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD).

According to a community advisory that HUPD spokesperson Peggy McNamara e-mailed to the Harvard community on Friday, an undergraduate at the College reported that he was approached by three black males, one of whom was about 6-feet tall and 300 pounds, near the fountain area of the park around 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday night.

According to the student, the three individuals asked him for the time, then assaulted him as he glanced at his watch.

One of the suspects displayed a knife and threatened the student until obtaining his wallet, laptop and cell phone, the advisory said.

The suspects then instructed the student to walk down the path between the Charles Hotel and the Kennedy School of Government, while they fled down JFK Street with the stolen goods.

McNamara said the Massachusetts State Police are investigating the case.

This robbery comes only days after two robberies and an assault sparked an unusual crime wave in Harvard Yard.

While an arrest was made in the assault—a case that HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano said was unrelated to the robberies—HUPD has yet to make any arrests in the daylight robberies.

And, like the yard robberies, the JFK Park incident also occurred in a usually quiet area, McNamara said.

“We haven’t had any problems down there in a while,” she said.

The suspects in the most recent robbery are described as being in their mid-20s, while the suspects in the yard robberies were described as being of high-school age.