Campus Attacks at UCLA Prompt Warning to Female Students

Police at UCLA are warning female students to be extra vigilant after a man tried to rape a woman on campus when she was making a cellphone call outside a residence hall.

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The attempted rape occurred about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday when a female student outside the Covel Commons building was grabbed and taken to a more isolated location, the university police department said. The attacker then threw the woman to the ground and straddled her, UCLA police said.

For some reason, the attacker stopped the assault and walked away. {snip}

The suspect is described as Latino, 20 to 30 years old, and unshaven. {snip}

On March 26, a sexual battery occurred at Westwood Plaza and Young Drive South about 6:25 p.m. when a female student reported a man grabbed her crotch.

{snip}. The suspect in that attack was described as a 40- to 50-year-old Latino, 5-feet-5 to 5-feet-6 in height.

On March 5, another woman affiliated with the university was knocked to the ground on Hilgard Avenue in an attempted sexual assault. The suspect was described as an Asian man about 25 years old {snip}.

Assault in Building 2

John A. Hawkinson, The Tech, April 2, 2010

A man was arrested early Tuesday morning on campus and charged with rape and trespassing.

Around 2:20 a.m. Tuesday morning, the MIT Police received a report of a sexual assault on the first floor of Building 2, most likely in a classroom. Police responded and assisted the victim with medical attention, and cordoned off the scene.

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Violent crime on MIT’s campus is extremely rare. Excluding incidents involving on-campus parties, there have been no comparable incidents within the past two decades.

By 4 a.m., MIT Police had arrested Jason Reed, who was found on campus and in the vicinity of the crime scene.

Reed, age 30, is homeless and was arrested on the charge of trespassing. {snip}

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In January of this year, Reed was arrested and subsequently convicted of assault and battery. He hit a woman in the head several times behind 110 Newbury St., apparently after having sex with her, according to a Boston Police report.

The January victim, Shereen Westdahl, age 46, was hospitalized, but was then released and died shortly thereafter, according to the case file.

Since his incarceration in January, and until his release on or around March 16, Reed has not had access to his medication, his lawyer’s statement said.

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