Victim says robber hit him over the head

An 18-year-old freshman said he was mugged early Saturday morning on the campus, but did not report the incident to police.

The victim remembers walking from Santa Fe Cafe to Cambridge Hall at about 1 a.m. Saturday morning. He said he later woke up in an ambulance headed to Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, but didn't remember how he got there.

His cell phone was missing, along with his credit cards, debit card, school ID, insurance cards and roughly $30 in cash, he said. He said he still had his driver license, wallet and keys. He said his credit card had been used at a gas station almost immediately after he was robbed.

Paramedics told him he had been found face down on the sidewalk near Memorial Chapel. He was treated for intoxication and released to his mother at 7 a.m. Saturday.

He said he suffered bruises to the back of his head and shoe-shaped bruises on his back.

The student hasn't filed a police report, and doesn't plan to do so.

"There's no real point to talking to police now," he said, citing he hadn't actually seen his attacker and he was drunk underage at the time of the crime.

But University Police still hope he comes forward.

"I wish he would come to police," said Capt. John Brandt, a police spokesman. "But it's his decision, and he chose for whatever reason that it was more trouble to come talk to us than not reporting it at all."

Brandt said police are not "going after victims," and said if the underage student chose to come forward, the investigation would be focused on the robbery, not the intoxication.

Hospitals are not legally required to report any admissions to police unless a victim is suffering from a gunshot wound or a knife wound, Brandt said. Because injuries from simple brawling are so common, medical workers would be less likely to report any patient suffering from those injuries.

Washington Adventist Hospital policy dictates hospital employees "encourage" patients to file a police report, but patients can refuse, said Lydia Parris, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

Parris said the hospital wouldn't speak to specifics about the student's treatment because of privacy concerns.

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