Law School Student Robbed on Mass. Ave.

A male law school student was the victim of an armed robbery near Porter Square on Sunday at approximately 4:22 a.m., according to a Harvard Police e-mail advisory sent yesterday afternoon.

The student was heading down Massachusetts Avenue toward Garfield Street when two black males, approximately ages 18-20, confronted him and asked him for a dollar, said the report.

The student told the Cambridge Police Department that the suspects then demanded his wallet and pointed what he believed to be a gun to his stomach.

The first suspect then pointed the gun at the student’s back after the student asked if the weapon was indeed a gun, according to the write-up. The second suspect then told the first to grab the student’s iPod. The two then took off in a tan SUV down Massachusetts Avenue toward Harvard Square.

Though three credit cards, a driver license, and $60 were allegedly stolen from him, the victim was uninjured, the police report stated.

Because the incident did not take place on Harvard property, the Cambridge Police Department is continuing the investigation.

In yesterday’s e-mail, HUPD advised that students, faculty, and staff be careful while walking throughout campus and surrounding areas. The e-mail also suggested that pedestrians avoid “talking on cell phones, listening to music, or walking too close to persons unnecessarily,” in addition to walking with others and utilizing the shuttle bus whenever possible.

This is the third street robbery and second armed street robbery reported by HUPD in the Harvard area since the beginning of this semester, according to its online advisory archive.

Street robberies in Cambridge increased by 33 percent the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2008, according to CPD’s third quarter crime report for 2009. Eleven street robberies during the third quarter resulted in arrests. Portable electronics, particularly high-end cell phones, have been the main targets, the report states.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.