'U' student robbed at knifepoint on East Hoover Avenue

A University student was robbed at knifepoint while walking alone along East Hoover Avenue Thursday night, Ann Arbor police reported.

The student was on the 300 block of the street near Elbel Field when a man jumped out from between buildings, grabbed her and pushed her to the side of a building, she told police.

The suspect held what appeared to be a switchblade to her throat and demanded she give him the pearl earrings she was wearing. She did, and after surveying her for additional property he could take and finding nothing, he ran east toward Division Street. The victim said she saw the man duck between buildings on the south side of Hoover.

The student was not injured in the incident, which took place at about 11:30 p.m. She walked back to her South University Avenue apartment and called police.

She described the suspect as a six-foot-two, 25-year-old white male. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans and a black ski mask pulled over his face.

Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Ed Stuck said police could not draw a composite sketch because the mask was covering everything but the man’s eyes. He said there are no suspects and that the investigation is ongoing.

University Police spokeswoman Diane Brown said that besides the armed robbery, she hasn’t heard of a crime spike while many students were away for Thanksgiving break.

“I haven’t seen much of any crime being reported this weekend,” Brown said.

University Police issued a campus-wide crime alert Friday morning informing students and faculty of the incident and warning them to stay alert. Anyone with information is asked to call the Ann Arbor Police tip line at 734-996-3199.