Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Armed Robber Evades Capture

Suspect Holds Up Leavey Parking Booth

By Tom Johnson Hoya Staff Writer

A robber armed with a silver handgun stole $141 from a Georgetown University parking garage booth Friday evening, according to Lt. Pat Burke of Metropolitan Police. Despite pursuits by Metro police, Georgetown Medical Center security and the Department of Public Safety, the suspect remains at large.

Metro received a call about the robbery at 7:30 p.m., said Burke. Metro then responded to the scene.

According to Burke, the garage attendant reported that a black man, approximately 27 years old, six feet tall and carrying a silver handgun, presented him with a note demanding money. The attendant complied, and the suspect fled the scene, Burke said.

According to Geremew Geresu, assistant manager of Parking Services for the Medical Center, the attendant, who was working in the Leavey parking garage, in the section nearest the hospital, called the Medical Center Customer Service Office, where Geresu, the attendant’s supervisor, works.

Customer service then called Med Center security, which in turn called Metro Police, said Geresu. Calls to Medical Center security are routinely routed through the Medical Center Customer Service phone line.

Geresu walked outside and met Lt. Nash, the evening supervisor for Medical Center security, in the parking circle near the Med Center, Geresu said. Geresu and Nash then walked toward the parking booth where the robbery had taken place.

Geresu and Nash were the only university officials on the scene, said Geresu. Metro police arrived at the scene six minutes later, to the best of Geresu’s memory.

When DPS learned of the robbery around 7:45 p.m., it released a broadcast message to alert all officers on duty about the suspect, according to Chief William Tucker.

After being alerted, DPS officers stopped a man seen running through the university campus, said Tucker. The man did not match the parking attendant’s description of the robber, however, and was released, Tucker said.

The Medical Center parking lot falls under the jurisdiction of ed Center security, however, and not DPS, said Tucker. DPS, therefore, did not send an officer to take a report. According to Geresu, the Leavey parking garage is split into three sections, P1, P2 and P3.

While the university is responsible for providing security to P2 and P3, P1, the section involved in the robbery, is handled by the ed Center which has a separate security force, Geresu said.

Hospital security prepared a report, but it was not available as of press time.

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