Gunmen pursue student on Route 1

Two gunmen and a third man chased a student and his companion across Route 1 in downtown College Park early Sunday before robbing them of money and their shoes behind ZIPS Dry Cleaners, police said, just three days after another mugging last Thursday about a mile to the north.

In another incident, University Police arrested a 51-year-old man who allegedly entered a female student's Princeton Avenue house Tuesday night. The incidents interrupted more than a month of relative calm in College Park; before the Sunday robbery, the university had not sent out a crime alert since June 30.

In Sunday's incident, the student and another man were leaving a party in the Quality Inn by Plato's Diner at about 12:20 a.m. when they were approached by three men who may have also attended the party, Prince George's County Police spokesman Cpl. Mike Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said two of the men displayed silver handguns; the student and the other victim ran across Route 1 but were caught in the parking lot behind ZIPS. The two then relinquished their money and shoes, and the muggers ran off down Calvert Road, he said.

A fight had broken out in the Quality Inn parking lot 20 minutes before the incident, and police believe the robbery suspects were involved, Rodriguez said.

Police described their suspects in themugging as three black men, each approximately 20 years old.

In last Thursday's mugging, Rodriguez said a non-student was walking home at about 11:45 p.m. at Berwyn Road and 48th Avenue — a block off Route 1 — when two men confronted him, beat him and stole his money.

No arrests had been made in either robbery as of Wednesday.

In Tuesday's incident, University Police spokesman Paul Dillon said a student came out of her bathroom around 8:15 p.m. to find a man whom she did not recognize inside her Princeton Avenue house.

The man told the student he was hoping to rent a room and would not leave when she told him to, Dillon said, adding that he had apparently entered through an unlocked door..

Police arrested James Francis Mohler, 51, of College Park, walking nearby at Norwich Road and Rhode Island Avenue a few minutes later, Dillon said, and the student said he was the man in her house. Mohler was charged with burglary, Dillon said.

"The victim was quick to call 911, and we had a quick police response to the area," Dillon said. "These two things led to the apprehension of the suspect.

"We always advise residents to lock their doors, even when they're at home," he added.

Read about other crimes at blogs.umdbk.com/campusdrive.

villanueva at umdbk dot com