Three men, one of whom brandished a knife, mugged two Mather House residents in the House courtyard early Friday evening.

The assailants escaped with two pocketbooks, one of which was later recovered without its money, according to the victims, who were both female.

The victims said they lost a total of $140, as well as other personal belongings.

No arrests have been made, according to Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) Lieutenant John F. Rooney.

The two victims, a sophomore and a senior, said they were walking on the corner of Banks St. and Cowperthwaite St. at about 6:45 p.m. when they first noticed the assailants.

The senior estimated that the assailants were between 16 and 20 years old.

The victims described one of the assailants as a tall white male with dark hair, sideburns and a hooded sweatshirt.

They said the second assailant, of unknown ethnicity, was about 5'6" and wore a beige jacket.

The other assailant was a white male with a black jacket, a black knit cap and a red sweatshirt, the victims said.

According to the victims, the assailants entered the courtyard behind them.

"They started to follow us very closely once we entered the courtyard, but I assumed they were just students," the sophomore said.

The victims said they walked from the entrance of the courtyard, past the superintendent's office, to the area in front of the Mather tower.

While the first assailant approached the victims from the front, the two other attackers grabbed their purses from behind, the victims said.

"[One assailant] said, 'Excuse me, can we have your bags?'" the senior said.

"It was not until our bags started getting grabbed from behind that we realized we were getting mugged," the sophomore said.

The sophomore resisted until the senior warned her that one of the assailants had a knife.

"The knife was thin, at least a few inches long," the senior said. "[The assailant] held out the knife, to make sure that we saw it, and waved it," she said.

The two students said they yelled loudly, but were unsuccessful in capturing the attention of bystanders in the courtyard until William Duarte, the security guard on duty, responded.

When I saw the tug-of-war, I yelled, 'Hey,' and the assailants fled behind the JCR," Duarte said.

The two victims said they ran into the tower and called HUPD. The police logged the call at 6:53 p.m.

Duarte said he ran towards the tower, where a student told him that an assailant was fleeing out the entrance of the courtyard.

Duarte said he rushed to the entrance, but could only catch a glimpse of one assailant fleeing down Cowperthwaite St. toward Leverett House.

"He had a sixty-to- eighty yard lead on me," Duarte said.

At least one of the assailants escaped over the back fence of Mather House onto Flag St., Duarte said.

Three HUPD cruisers responded, and unsuccessfully searched for the assailants, Duarte said.

One of the purses was later recovered without any money in the Peabody Terrace parking lot behind Mather.

The victims said they were surprised that the bystanders did not respond to their cries for help. At least four people were in the courtyard, they said.

"We screamed very loudly, many times," the sophomore said. " It baffles me that no one came over to see if we were all right. Just shouting over might have made a difference."

Duarte said he did not realize that an assault was occurring until he saw the students struggling with the assailants for control of the purses.

"I watched it. I just didn't think it was a robbery, " he said.

Both the victims and other Mather residents said it frightened them that the incident occurred inside the courtyard.

"The thing that I'm most concerned about is that this happened at 6:45 p.m. at night inside the courtyard," the senior said. "I've always thought I was safe once I reached the courtyard."

"It's unfortunate that you can't go to the vending machines without fearing for your personal safety," said Alana B. Samuels '01, a Mather resident.

The sophomore victim said she still feels uneasy.

"I will definitely take some self-defense classes. It's not that it would have helped, but just to get my confidence back," she said.

"I jump at the smallest things now, which is scary," she said.

Rooney said HUPD would increase security in the Mather area.

"We have dispatched some extra walking units along the river as a safety precaution," Rooney said. "We're trying to beef up protection as a direct result of the incident."

Rooney said students who are assaulted should value their personal safety first.

"If anyone else is confronted by individuals, surrender your property, get a description, a direction of travel, and call the police," he said.