Three second-year University students were assaulted at the corner of Rugby Road and University Way Friday evening, marking the fourth time in two weeks that attacks occurred in the Rugby Road area.
According to Charlottesville police, three male students were walking north on Rugby Road around 10:15 p.m. to a fraternity rush event when three or four black males and two black females attacked them.
The assailants "ran up from behind, hit them, kicked them and then ran off," Charlottesville Police Detective Edward Palmateer said.
The sudden nature of the attack left the victims capable of only vague recollection of the details of the violent assault and its perpetrators.
"We tried to escape and ran about five meters," said one of the victims, who asked to remain anonymous. "About three or four people started kicking me in the head. From then on, it's just a haze," he said. "I won't be going to class for a couple of days."
According to the victim, a Papa John's pizza deliveryman first reported the crime to the police.
One of the three students was admitted to University Hospital and has been released. The others sustained scrapes and other minor injuries and refused medical attention, Charlottesville Police Detective Randy Higgins said.
A prior attack had occurred just one week earlier Jan. 18 at 11:40 p.m., when a female University student was assaulted along the 300 block of 15th Street. The student reportedly was struck several times by a black male between five feet nine inches and six feet tall, and appeared to be approximately 20 years of age, Palmateer said.
The first two of the series of four attacks occurred Jan. 12. The earlier assault that evening involved four black males who attacked a first-year student walking from his dormitory down Maury Avenue to a friend's house on Clarke Court. According to police, he suffered two black eyes and was taken to University Hospital for treatment.
Later that same night, a group of about eight black males and females assaulted three University students, according to the police report.
One victim suffered a broken cheekbone that required surgery. Another had two knots on his head and a swollen finger. The final victim escaped nearly unscathed.
In all four cases, the search for suspects continues, but authorities said they have few leads.
"We don't know very much," Higgins said. "It's going to take an eyewitness to come forward if we're going to be able to solve this."
Though Higgins said the department already uses a great deal of its resources in the Rugby Road area, he added that police are considering new strategies to combat crime there.
"We've already got all the cops working down in the Rugby area on weekend nights," Higgins said. "We'll probably go as far as having plainclothes officers in the area wearing backpacks."
Police urge anyone with information about the attack to call Crimestoppers at 977-4000.
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