UPDATED: Sept. 23, 2012, 11:57 p.m.

A nonstudent was stabbed outside Acropolis Pizza House on Marshall Street early Saturday, said Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department in an email.

A 31-year-old Syracuse man was stabbed at about 2 a.m. in the right side of his chest after a fight broke out in the doorway of the restaurant. 

His injuries did not appear to be life threatening, and no students were involved in the incident. The suspects fled from the scene, and no suspect description is currently available, Connellan said.

Once the fight broke out and punches were thrown, Acropolis employee Steve Papazides said he immediately began urging those involved in the fight out of the restaurant. Papazides said Acropolis shouldn’t be blamed for all the Marshall Street crime.

“We’re not the only store that has problems,” he said.

Acropolis has “been a focal point for late night problems over the last several months,” though, Connellan said in the email. Stabbings, shootings and fights have broken out at Acropolis Pizza late at night, “drawing a criminal element late at night after the bars close.”

The crime on Marshall Street coincides with an uptick of inner-city gang members and teenagers entering parties thrown by SU students in the East neighborhood on weekend nights. While the issues on Marshall Street can also be linked to gang violence, the incident appears to be separate from increased crime in the East neighborhood.

Said Connellan: “None of the incidents at Acropolis Pizza have involved any students, but with the high volume of students in that area late at night it is obviously is a concern to the Police Department that a student could become and innocent victim of this violence.”

Published on September 22, 2012 at 12:04 pm

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