INITIAL ALERTEmail
USC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
TIMELY WARNING
Incident: Aggravated Assault & Robbery
Date/Time of Occurrence: 11/30/2024, 8:27 PM
Location: Parking lot behind La Barca's located at 2414 Vermont Avenue
A suspect robbed two victims at gunpoint and pistol whipped one of the victims. The victims are not affiliated with USC. The suspect fled from the location in an unknown direction of travel.
The Clery Act requires that USC notify the public of certain crimes which occur within Clery-designated geography. These reports are called Timely Warnings. When a criminal incident occurs within USC's Clery Geography that represents a serious or continuing threat to the safety of students, employees, and others, DPS issues a Timely Warning in compliance with the Clery Act.
The purpose of this warning is to aid in the prevention of similar crimes by alerting the community about the incident and to provide information which allows individuals to make informed decisions about their personal safety.
If you have information relevant to the crime(s) reflected in this alert, immediately call DPS at (213) 740-6000 for the University Park Campus (UPC), (323) 442-1000 for the Health Sciences Campus (HSC) or (213) 485-6571 for the LAPD Southwest Division.
Verbatim incident narrative recovered from the USC DPS archive at dps.usc.edu/2024/11/30/aggravated-assault-robbery/: 'A suspect robbed two victims at gunpoint and pistol whipped one of the victims. The victims are not affiliated with USC. The suspect fled from the location in an unknown direction of travel.'
La Barca's at 2414 Vermont Avenue is a restaurant within USC's Clery geography, placing this in the mandatory reporting zone despite being off the main campus footprint
The incident at 8:27 p.m. occurred during evening hours when students may be patronizing nearby restaurants and businesses, heightening the relevance to the campus community
Combines aggravated assault (the pistol whipping) with robbery, indicating the use of force and a firearm during the property crime, which elevates the Clery classification
USC issued this as one of multiple robbery-related timely warnings in November 2024, reflecting a period of elevated property crime near campus