Two thieves who police say had been preying on students in the area of Princess Margaret Drive in which the University of the West Indies (UWI) and Saint John’s College (SJC) campuses are located, were arrested at about 2:30 yesterday afternoon by Precinct 4 police.

A female student, 17, told police that at about 11:30 Tuesday morning, October 15, she and a friend of hers were walking in the vicinity of UWI on Princess Margaret Drive when a man came up to her and grabbed her purse. She tried to grab it back, but he punched her in her face forcefully, causing her to let go of the purse. The thief then rode away with the bag, which contained her BlackBerry cell phone.

According to the student’s report to police, in the following week, at about 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon on Tuesday, October 22, she saw the same robber who had attacked her lurking in the area while she was walking in front of UWI on Princess Margaret Drive.

Police responded quickly to her report, and found that another man was along with the thief. The two men were immediately held by police, who searched them. The police officers found a 9350 Blackberry phone and a phone chip, which were the property of the student who had been robbed.

Police also found (1) Homelite weed whacker and (1) Samsung Galaxy brand T-Mobile touchscreen cell phone, which had also been reported as stolen.

The men were then taken to the police station, where they were charged for the stolen items.

Police believe that the two men are the robbers who have been lurking in the area to prey on and rob students for some time now.