Penn\u2019s Division of Public Safety is investigating reports that a man riding a bicycle struck female pedestrians in the face in the western part of the University\u2019s patrol zone.<\/p>\n
In a campus-wide message sent on Tuesday, DPS wrote that multiple community members reported assaults, most of which occurred between 40th and 44th streets, from Pine to Chestnut streets during the late afternoon and evening hours. According to the Oct. 13 safety advisory, no one has been seriously injured, and police and security patrols have increased in the affected areas.<\/p>\n
A request for comment was left with a DPS spokesperson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Complainants reported that the man deliberately extended his arm as he rode past them, striking their faces, according to the advisory. The suspect was described as a Black man in his late 30s or early 40s with a dark complexion, medium build, and light beard. Complainants also reported an orange carrier on the back of the suspect\u2019s bicycle, which DPS said may be consistent with a food-delivery service.<\/p>\n
The advisory did not specify the number or dates of the incidents or announce any arrests.<\/p>\n
Get the DP delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n
Sign Up<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe Division of Public Safety is conducting a thorough investigation of this matter,\u201d the email read.<\/p>\n In 2025, simple assault accounted<\/a> for 10% of known offenses in Penn\u2019s reporting area. DPS Vice President Kathleen Shields Anderson said in an interview last month that total crime was down 18% compared with the same period last year.<\/p>\n Last September, DPS shared reports of groups of \u201cyoung people slapping or striking individuals in the head on and near Penn\u2019s campus.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n DPS urged reporting of suspicious activity in the Oct. 13 message. The email concluded by directing community members to available public safety resources \u2014 such as the University\u2019s walking escort and riding services and the Penn Guardian app.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPlease remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings,\u201d the email read. \u201cNever attempt to confront a suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n Senior reporter Ananya Karthik covers central administration and can be reached at karthik@thedp.com<\/a>. At Penn, she studies communication and economics. Follow her on X @ananyaakarthik<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penn\u2019s Division of Public Safety is investigating reports that a man riding a bicycle struck female pedestrians in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":["post-306210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}