Campus police at George Mason University in Fairfax are trying to catch a suspect after a rare broad daylight robbery at the school.

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It happened a little after ten in the morning Tuesday right outside what's called Student Union I.

Police say a worker at the Chik Fil A had taken a cash bag outside and planned to walk it to a nearby bank at the campus's Johnson Center. She was approached by a man who police say talked to her, then punched her in the face and tried to take the bag.

She was able to keep him from getting it and ran back inside.
Police say the man got away with the woman's cell phone but later ditched it.

Police say the suspect is described as an African American wearing a gray shirt and dark pants. They say he had light facial hair and wore his hair in dreadlocks. He was last seen fleeing the scene on a green and black bicycle north into the city of Fairfax.

Students at George Mason say they received an alert about the incident from campus police.

They say they find it unsettling, especially since they normally consider the campus a pretty safe place even at night—let alone in broad daylight.

"Things like this happening in the daytime, in morning? It's unbelievable," said George Mason senior Atif Qureshi.

Students say campus police do a good job keeping crime down, and the incident hasn't shattered their sense of security.

"I think it's kind of an isolated incident," said freshman Courtney Chapman. "George Mason's a pretty safe place. You don't ever feel like you're in danger walking back from class or anything like that."

University Police assistant chief George Ginovsky says it appears the suspect saw the worker with the money bag and made a spur of the moment decision to try to steal it.

Ginovsky does not believe the man was a student.