A student received non-life-threatening injuries following a knife assault near the intersection of Brown and Waterman streets at around 11:15 p.m. Thursday, said Paul Shanley, deputy chief of police for the Department of Public Safety.
Providence resident Francisco Depina, 20, and a juvenile accomplice whose identity could not be released were both charged with felony assault following their apprehension by two DPS detectives, Shanley said. Neither suspect has a connection to the University, he said.
The victim, whose name has not been released, was walking home when he was approached by two males who asked him for directions to Thayer Street, Shanley said. When the student's back was turned, he was assaulted by the two men who then ran north, he said.
The exact nature of the victim's injuries could not be released as the case is still being investigated, Shanley said, though he added that the victim was not hospitalized.
One of the three students who witnessed the incident used a blue light phone on the Main Green to contact DPS, Shanley said. Minutes later, DPS detectives John Remka and Armand Pereira apprehended men matching the students' descriptions of the suspects - one male wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and another wearing a blue zippered jacket - near the intersection of Meeting and Thayer streets, he said. After taking the suspects into custody, DPS turned the men over to Providence Police to be formally charged, he said.
Another witness told officers one of the men had thrown something into a bush on Angell Street as he ran, Shanley said. Officers recovered the small knife that had been used in the assault later that night, he said.
The reason for the assault is unclear at this time, Shanley said. Theft was not involved in the incident, he said.
"I haven't heard of any type of assault like this for a while," Shanley said, adding that he was glad that the witnesses stepped in to call DPS.
Libby Stein '15, a resident of Hope College, the dorm nearest to the location of the assault, said she has been more cautious walking home after dark since the incident. "I've always been cautious further out from campus," she said. "I've never really felt like around Waterman was unsafe, but my mind has definitely changed."
"I think it's awful that it happened," said Nick Goelz '15, another Hope resident. But, he added, "I don't think it'll change my habits. You can't let something that's that isolated really affect you too much."
ADVERTISEMENT
