Old Croton Aqueduct trail where the two sophomores got robbed. GREATRUNS.COM/COURTESY
By Mack Olmsted, Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor
Just two weeks after the initial mugging of a Manhattan College freshman, two students were robbed in broad daylight in Van Cortlandt Park.
The two MC sophomore students decided to go for a walk late last month on the Old Croton Aqueduct trail. The park was populated with cyclists and joggers all around.
The two sophomores followed all the suggested guidelines, not going in alone, not going at night and paying attention to their surroundings. Unfortunately, one Riverdale criminal sought an opportunity.
While on the run, an adult male came up behind the students on a moped, stopping them in their tracks. He flashed a knife and threatened the students to give him any money and valuables that they had.
“At the moment I was just shocked and in survival mode,” one of the sophomores, who chose to remain anonymous, said. “It wasn’t until later that night once everything was sorted out, that the fear sort of set in. I couldn’t have picked a better time to be there, in broad daylight with other people in the park… it definitely makes me question the safety and lack of police presence and surveillance inside of the park.”
The sophomore student noted that the individual who robbed him matched the same description as the previous victim’s mugger. Since the previous incident, the suspect remained on the loose with police being unable to track him down.
“He was on a red dirt bike with some black accents, he was maybe like, 5 ‘6” not too tall, and average build as far as I could tell,” the sophomore said. “He was wearing a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants, wearing a ski mask, and couldn’t see much of his face. You could only tell that he was African American. He had a very thick accent, and I wasn’t sure what it was.”
Senior cross-country runner Brendan Chan and his teammate ran into the sophomores that day. When they told him what had happened, he ran with caution crossing paths with an individual who matched the description, on a moped. Chan said he stopped 50 meters away.
“We were scared because this person fit the description so we didn’t want to get any closer. I think it’s the most dangerous thing I’ve ever felt while at the park,” Chan said.
Chan informed the cross-country coach of what had happened and she offlined the trails of the robberies recommending that students should run elsewhere.
Irma Garcia, director of athletics, spoke about how she, along with the coaches, are coming up with methods and solutions to make students feel safe at practice.
“Everyone’s safety comes first, it’s the most important thing and we made a promise to parents that their kids come to Manhattan College and they’re going to be safe,” Garcia said. Manhattan College is safe. But of course, we utilize it [Van Cortlandt] and it’s so close to the campus. We will all figure out a strong solution from there, but for now, safety is of course primary and it comes first.”
Editor’s note: Some information and reporting was originally published in The Riverdale Press in a similar story by Mack Olmsted.