A female ASU employee avoided being robbed Tuesday morning when she convinced a man with a gun not to take her purse in a parking-garage elevator.
Phoenix and ASU police responded to the incident at the Nursing and Healthcare Innovation garage after the woman’s 911 call, ASU police said.
“The woman told the man she was a single mother with a daughter and not to do this. She told him he could walk away right now. So he put the gun back in his waistband and left,” said ASU police Cmdr. Jim Hardina.
Terry Olbrysh, director of marketing and communications for the College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation, said the woman was taken home by a few other employees and would probably return to work later this week. Olbrysh identified the woman as administrative staff at the Nursing and Healthcare Innovation building.
“We’re glad that there was no physical injury,” Olbrysh said. “This was obviously a traumatic experience, though. Before she left for home she saw one of our staff psychologists.”
To enter the parking structure where the incident occurred, people must have a card on their windshield. The card must be scanned to enter and exit the garage. Olbrysh said he believes the man walked down to the lowest level and waited. When he saw the woman enter the elevator, he entered with her.
“She said he looked like a person going to school here,” Olbrysh said.
Hardina described the man as in his early 20s, about 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a gray polo and dark pants.
“The woman did what she should have done,” Hardina said. “We are advising everyone to be aware of their surroundings. We’re a community, so everyone needs to be responsible for everyone and look out for each other.”
Hardina said the Phoenix Police department would be leading any further investigation on the incident. Phoenix Police did not respond to requests for interviews in time for publication.
Olbrysh said he could only remember one similar incident, when a transient outside the nursing building punched a staff member in 2006.
“I’ve lived in a lot of cities, and Phoenix is one of the safest,” Olbrysh said. “These are not common incidents. This is hopefully an isolated incident.”
Reach the reporter at sheydt@asu.edu.
