UTA police investigate two armed robberies in one week

UT Arlington police continued to search Thursday for three men who held up two students in separate armed robberies in campus parking lots this week.

The first robbery was reported at 5:30 p.m. Monday in parking Lot 50 at 1301 S. West Street.

A male student told police that after two men got out of a black sedan, one pulled out a handgun and demanded items, campus police Capt. Mike McCord wrote in a campus crime alert.

The student gave the robbers what they asked for, and they drove away south through the parking lot, McCord said.

About 3 p.m. Thursday, a male student told police he was approached in Lot 51, 1200 S. West St. at Doug Russell Road, by a man in his early 20s who asked for directions.

Then the man pulled a silver revolver from his waistband and demanded the student’s property, according to a campus crime alert. The robber took the student’s wallet and cellphone and then drove off in a two-door Pontiac. The first three letters of the license plate could be “FBR,” police said.

“UT Arlington police are working closely with the Arlington Police Department to increase patrols across and around campus,” University President Vistasp Karbhari said in statement.

The robber on Thursday was described as 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 10, black, 170 to 190 pounds with short hair. He wore a black T-shirt with white lettering and black basketball shorts.

The robbers on Monday were described as black, 6 feet tall and of average build. One wore a “baggy” black shirt and a blue bandana on his head. The other wore a “baggy” white shirt and “baggy” jean shorts that went past his knees.

Students who take night classes are urged to walk in groups when possible or call UT Arlington police at 817-272-3381 for a security escort, which are available around the clock.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 7:09 PM with the headline "UTA police investigate two armed robberies in one week."