The Triangle

Issue date: 6/6/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Drexel Public Safety/Philadelphia Police Marvin Sutter, 45, was arrested June 4 while he was driving a stolen car and carrying a handgun in North Philadelphia.

The suspect wanted for robbing a Drexel University professor in Stratton Hall was arrested June 4 at approximately 3:30 p.m. in North Philadelphia while driving a stolen car and carrying a handgun, according to Drexel Public Safety officials.

"We [detectives] knew the vehicle he was in," a Sergeant in the Philadelphia Police Department's Major Crimes Unit said.

Police said the suspect, Marvin Sutter, 45, had a gun, but there were no injuries.

The car had a Delaware license plate that did not match the car it was attached to, according to police. Detectives were still working to track down the origin of the plate at the time of this report.

Sutter has a lengthy criminal record and was wanted by local police and state parole officials when he allegedly robbed the professor, according to law enforcement sources.

He was arrested in 1987 and 1993 for "unauthorized use of auto" and in 2003 for carjacking, according to court records matching his name.

Although some of the charges were dropped, Sutter did serve time in the state penitentiary for robbery and weapons related charges in April 2003.

Sutter was a fugitive when he allegedly pulled a black handgun on the University professor in Stratton Hall.

Abington Township Police said they were searching for him in connection with a car theft.

Philadelphia and Abington Township Police have been working together on the case.

"They [Philadelphia Police] called me right away," an Abington detective said.

Local police were not the only ones looking for Sutter.

The Pennsylvania State Parole Board was also searching for Sutter after he walked away from a halfway house May 1, Bob Bushy, a parole board spokesman, said.

It was not until the campus attack and the help of Drexel Public Safety, Philadelphia Police and University of Pennsylvania Police investigators that a lead was developed.

The suspect was identified after a "collaborative effort," Capt. Benjamin Naish of Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detective Division said.

"Due to the excellent work of the Philadelphia Police, another predator is off the streets," Domenic Ceccanecchio, senior associate vice president of Public Safety at Drexel, said.

Continued...

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