Mark Paulo, a 20-year-old kinesiology student who said he was held up at knifepoint, took matters into his own hands, slugging the perpetrator in the face and running.

Southwestern College Campus police released a Community Safety Alert stating that it received a call October 12 at 10:30 p.m. from Paulo reporting he had been the victim of an attempted armed robbery.

“He (the victim) was on his cell phone talking to a friend when the suspect approached him and pulled out a knife,” read the report. “The suspect placed the knife against the victim’s lower abdomen and stated, ‘Give me your wallet.’ The suspect lowered his knife and the victim punched him in the face. The victim ran back towards the campus and did not see where the suspect went.”

Police are in the process of reviewing camera footage, according to the report. The victim described the suspect as a 5-foot-6-inch male wearing a black hoodie and beanie.

Walking to his car at night had always been a safety concern, said Paulo.

“After classes at night I usually feel a little sketched out,” he said. “I have the urge to call an escort, but I didn’t know how it worked, so I just like face my fears and walk to my car.”

Paulo said he was new to the college and not aware of the emergency blue poles around campus or the MyPD App, for requesting a police escort.

“It is my first semester on this campus,” he said.“ If I knew about the MyPD App or the blue emergency poles when I first started at Southwestern, it would have made me feel more comfortable walking around campus at night.”

Paulo said he would like to see more police being visible and walking around SWC as they did at his previous college.

“I would ask the police to be more cautious about what is happening around campus,” he said. “Maybe have officers walk around campus more instead of just driving around in their cars. When I was at Cal Poly there were officers walking around campus asking students if everything was all right and if they needed anything. It felt like a safe place.”

Further information about the incident should be directed to SWC Police Sergeant Bryan Pendleton at (619) 482-6380 or CampusPolice@swccd.edu.