Before becoming victims of a violent mugging, Jackson Sinnenberg (COL ‘15) and Jack Schmitt (COL ‘15) weren’t particularly focused on their safety as they walked back to Burleith from a night on Capitol Hill on Nov. 7.
“I’ve walked up 34th St. many times before with friends. … I just didn’t think anything of it,” Sinnenberg said. But at 11:40 p.m. evening that night, both he and Schmitt were mugged.
“From out of nowhere, I felt a blow to my face and a very unfriendly voice in my ear telling me to ‘give me the money,’” Sinnenberg said. He and Schmitt handed over everything they had on them—their wallets, phones, and backpacks full of textbooks and electronic devices.
Georgetown University police, D.C. police, and GERMS responded promptly to the scene. While Sinnenberg lay in an ambulance headed to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, he discovered that his jacket was soaked in blood.
An increased number of GUPD public safety alerts indicated that late October and November saw a rash of property crimes and assaults both on and off campus. During October and November of last year, the Department sent out nine public safety alerts. This year, there have been 23 since October.
Students are not the only people who have been impacted by the rise in crime. Nan Coflin, a Burleith resident who lives at the corner of 36th and R streets, was robbed between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. two days after the mugging on 34th St.
“They broke the glass on my back door and took my desktop computer, two iPads, and whatever change they could find,” Coflin said.
GUPD Chief Jay Gruber sent an email to the campus community on Nov. 9 acknowledging the increase in neighborhood crime and urging students and staff to adjust their behavior and take advantage of safety resources at their disposal, such as SafeRides and the LiveSafe app.
“The Georgetown University Police Department is working closely with the Metropolitan Police Department to both investigate these robberies and monitor this crime trend in areas around the University,” Gruber wrote.
In an email to the Voice, Gruber discussed the efforts GUPD has made to combat the spate of crimes.
“We are working closely with the MPD Second District, especially with PSA 206. MPD has put additional resources in the area to help deal with this current crime trend,” he wrote. “GUPD officers have also had an increased presence in areas outside of the main campus.”
Sinnenberg expressed satisfaction with GUPD’s response to his mugging, despite the fact that the assailants have not been apprehended.
“GUPD showed up fairly quickly, GERMS was contacted fairly quickly,” he said. “It seems like the guys who did this, it wasn’t their first rodeo, so they probably had a plan… aside from like, armed battalions patrolling the streets, [GUPD] did everything it could.”
Photo by Megan Howell
