A member of the Yale community was robbed on Monday in front of the Hotel Duncan, near the intersection of Chapel and York streets, according to an email from Yale Police Department Chief Ronnell Higgins. The incident was the fourth robbery or attempted robbery Higgins has announced in an email since the start of August.

At about 6:15 p.m., an unidentified member of the Yale community was approached by a man who asked for a cigarette, Chief Higgins reported. The man then cut the strap off the victim’s shoulder bag and fled with the bag. The YPD alert went out at 8:26 p.m.

No physical injuries were reported. Witnesses provided information to the police, and New Haven police are investigating the incident, Higgins said.

A waiter at Anaya Sushi — the restaurant directly across from the robbery scene — who declined to give her name told the News she was taking an order when a customer “got up from eating and went toward the window. His eyes just opened and he says, ‘Oh my God.’”

The waiter said that the customer asked her, “Oh did you just see it? This guy just took this girl’s bag and just ran — and she ran after him but couldn’t catch up to him.”

She said she didn’t know if the victim was a student or not. The customer who witnessed the event was surprised but continued eating his sushi, the waiter said.

Another waiter at the restaurant said he felt scared knowing that he had to walk around the corner to get to his car.

Tina Oyanguren ’22 received the Yale Alert while she was sitting at Anaya and felt “distressed.”

“I am surprised by the amount of robberies in New Haven, especially sitting in the restaurant across the street from the scene,” said Yan Davidoff ’22 who was celebrating his birthday at Anaya Sushi with Oyanguren and other friends that evening.

Neither Oyanguren nor Davidoff was at the restaurant when the robbery occurred.

Sammy Westfall | sammy.westfall@yale.edu