Three men attempted to rob a woman on Monday evening in front of Annenberg House, a USC off-campus student housing complex, according to a crime alert issued by USC’s Department of Public Safety.
Two of the suspects approached the unidentified victim and demanded her purse while the remaining suspect kept watch on the opposite side of the street, according to the alert. One of the suspects allegedly revealed a black handgun to the victim.
The suspects struggled with the victim but ultimately failed to take the purse and subsequently ran away on foot towards Figueroa Street from 27th Street.
The incident has left residents of Annenberg House feeling rattled.
“I’m pretty terrified now to walk home alone at night. Especially considering that this attempted robbery was in broad daylight,” said Alexandra Goldberg, a graduate journalism student who lives at Annenberg House.
USC DPS sent out the crime alert through email shortly after the attempted robbery took place on Monday evening.
The suspects have not been taken into custody, and the victim was not injured, according to DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle.
“The suspects escaped, so there’s still a possible threat,” said Carlisle. “That doesn’t mean they’re in the area, or they could have fled the entire neighborhood, but there’s no update at this time.”
Students residing at Annenberg House reported seeing the victim with campus police following the incident.
“She was definitely shaken up for sure. And the police officers looked concerned,” said Michael Kittilson, a graduate student studying public relations who lives at Annenberg House. “You could tell that they were doing a really thorough job to make sure that they got a good idea of who the suspects were so that they could…make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.”
Goldberg did not see the robbery take place and doesn’t know who the victim is.
“I’m in a house group chat. No one even made mention of the attempted robberies. So I’m a little bit in the dark on, you know, who was affected,” said Goldberg.
Goldberg and Kittilson said that security for Annenberg House should improve.
“I’d like to see it increase a little bit more. But I think, since it’s on the outskirts, it’s really difficult for campus police to be everywhere at once,” said Kittilson.
Goldberg said she lacks complete confidence in Yellow Jackets, USC’s security ambassadors, but still feels safer with them around.
“I’ve seen a lot of those Yellow Jackets patrolling the area. In my opinion, I think that the shifts that they work are inconsistent,” said Goldberg. “I don’t always see them. I don’t know that if there was an altercation, that the yellow-jackets would be able to de-escalate it.”
Journalism graduate student and Annenberg House resident Hien Nguyen said security for the building seemed thorough.
“When I moved in, I felt safe in the sense that, you know, you have to be a resident in some capacity to be able to enter.”
This is Nguyen’s first year living in L.A., and said this is why she was cautious about this situation.
“I always heard from my friends, like, ‘Hey, like, you should be careful when you go out at night.’ Hearing something like this, that’s happening in broad daylight…it’s really scary.”