Pedestrians Are Targets in Holdups Near UCLA

Los Angeles police are advising pedestrians in Westwood to avoid walking alone at night, after a robbery occurred near the UCLA campus last week, the 11th such crime in the area since May.

The assailant in Thursday’s robbery, who may have been armed with a semiautomatic handgun, knocked the victim down in the commission of the crime, authorities said.

Detectives on Monday released a composite drawing of a robber.

Most of the victims, which have included both men and women, were alone and walking to their apartments or vehicles, police said. The crimes usually occurred between 10 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

None of the robberies occurred on campus, said UCLA Police Department spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein, but nine of them involved UCLA students.

In one case in late July, a man approached two 22-year-old women on Weyburn Avenue near Strathmore Drive, pointed a large handgun at them and told them to drop their purses. They complied and the man ran off with the handbags.

Greenstein said anyone walking on campus or nearby in Westwood from dusk to 1 a.m. can call the UCLA Police Department at (310) 794-WALK to request an escort.

Suspicious activity in the UCLA vicinity may be reported directly to the department’s dispatcher at (310) 825-1492.

The Los Angeles Police Department asks anyone with information about the crimes to call (310) 444-1538.