An unknown assailant sneaked up behind his victim at the corner of Spartan and Albert avenues on Thursday night, punching and kicking the man before stealing his cell phone and jacket.
East Lansing police said the assailant, described as a 6-foot-3, 20- to 30-year-old white man with dark hair, fled the scene. Police have not made an arrest in the 7 p.m. robbery.
The attacker apparently "exchanged words" with the victim before punching and kicking him, police said. The victim, who was treated for minor injuries at St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing, told police the attacker was wearing a white T-shirt covered by a flannel shirt.
The strong-arm robbery occurred three days after two MSU students told police a teenager armed with a glass bottle mugged them outside the Brody Complex.
Police are reminding students and residents to take extra precautions in light of recent robberies.
"Beware of your surroundings and know who is around if you are out late at night," East Lansing police Sgt. Mark VandeWouwer said. "Travel with friends."
There have been 24 aggressive robberies in East Lansing this year, including a rash of gunpoint thefts in late September. No one has been seriously injured as a result of those attacks.
VandeWouwer said police do not believe there is a "direct connection" with the earlier attacks.
On Sept. 21, within 2 miles and 20 minutes of each other, two female MSU students were approached at gunpoint by a man who demanded their belongings.
Police have arrested one man in connection with those robberies and are seeking an accomplice.
That same week, three students were tied up at gunpoint while thieves ransacked their apartment looking for drugs, East Lansing police said.
No arrests were made in that attack.
Police have made arrests in two other recent attacks.
In one of those cases, a 53-year-old East Lansing man was attacked while walking on Grove Street. In the other attack, a 24-year-old man was approached at gunpoint while sleeping in his car in an alleyway near the 100 block of Gunson Street in early October.
Last year, there were 33 aggressive robberies in East Lansing, 29 in 2001 and 14 in 2000.
Anyone with information on Thursday's robbery is asked to call the East Lansing Police Department at (517) 351-4220.
