The SMU Police Department responded to a call about an aggravated robbery late Wednesday night. Two Meadows students, Harriet Mackenzie and Gabor Zabo, were held up by gun point, according to police reports. The students told the officers they were walking along Binkley Avenue by Moody Coliseum when two men approached them from behind. They said the men were slender black men in their twenties and dressed in dark clothes.
One man stayed behind the victims and held what felt like a gun behind Zabo’s back. The other suspect jumped in front of the two and demanded their belongings while holding a semi-automatic handgun at them.
The two assailants took the complainants’ credit cards, money, a purse and the two students’ ID cards.
After collecting the belongings from Mackenzie and Zabo, they proceeded to run east on Binkley Avenue and north onto Dublin Street. Mackenzie and Zabo then ran to Boaz Hall where they met a friend and called the SMU Police.
While searching for the suspects, the police found Zabo’s orange address book on the west side of 6100 Dublin, on the intramural sidewalk. The suspects probably dropped it while fleeing from the crime scene. Officers then walked the area in an attempt to find other evidence but nothing else was found.
The police were called 20 minutes after the aggravated robbery happened. Had they been called earlier, officers said the chance of catching the assailants would have been greater. The police advise students to call them right away when something happens to them and to report anyone suspicious lurking around on campus or just sitting in a vehicle.
“In a case like this the best thing for anyone to do is to cooperate and to make sure that you do not get hurt,” said Captain Mike Snellgrove of the SMU Police Department.
The SMU Police remind students that the SMU Angels are here for their convenience and to call them any time for a ride on campus.
Whether or not you decide to call for a ride, you be aware of your surroundings at all times. Assailants select victims who are not looking around and will not see them coming up from behind.
