3 women arrested in robbery of Temple student

Police arrested three women in connection with the Friday afternoon robbery of a Temple University student who was threatened with a box cutter, according to a university spokesman.

The undergraduate student was not injured, but her backpack was taken in the incident, which occurred around 4 p.m. in the parking lot of the Progress Plaza Shopping Center in the 1500 block of North Broad Street, said Brandon Lausch, the spokesman. He said he did not know her age. The three women, who were taken into custody shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, are also suspected of attacking two other people who were on or near the campus Thursday, he said.

A Philadelphia police spokesperson was unavailable to provide details. The women's ages are not known.

Lausch said the first two victims were not students or employees of the university. The first one, in her 20s, was cut with a box cutter while she was in the 1400 block of Diamond Street, he said. She was treated and released from Hahnemann University Hospital for minor injuries. Shortly afterward, the second victim was robbed at the Progress Plaza Shopping Center, he said.

Lausch said that the university's students, faculty, and staff were alerted by texts to the first two attacks on Thursday and were given a description of two of the women who were wanted and of their vehicle, a white Buick LaCrosse. He said he did not know how the third suspect was tied to the crimes. - Jan Hefler