Two more assaults on female University students in the past week have prompted administrators to send e-mail alerts to the University community about potential danger around Grounds.
A female University graduate student reported being assaulted by an unidentified male at about 10:45 a.m. last Saturday, Oct. 19 in the West Complex of the Medical Center.
The victim "described being grabbed from behind," according to University Police Sgt. Melissa Fielding. "She immediately began to resist physically, and the assailant fled from the area."
According to University police, the victim described her assailant as a black male of medium complexion with a short curly afro. She estimated that he is approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds. The victim approximated her attacker's age as between 20 and 30 years.
Fielding said that nothing was stolen from the victim.
"We don't know what the assailant's intentions were," Fielding said. "All we know is what the victim described."
University police investigators are not yet sure if this assault has any connection to the other area assaults that have taken place this fall.
"Our investigators are certainly going to look into every potential detail, evaluating all of the evidence" for connections, Fielding said.
Last Thursday night, the University Police released an assault notice in conjunction with the Charlottesville Police.
City police also are investigating an assault on a female University student early last week who had items stolen from her off-Grounds apartment.
The police described the assailant as a "black male of medium height and build in his early to mid-20s" and as "fair to medium complected with short hair and clean shaven."
The Charlottesville Police investigations unit declined to comment on the details of the case, but confirmed that the assault took place early last week.
Fielding said that City police did not alert her to the assault.
"I was notified by the victim," Fielding said. "She called and wanted to make the University police aware that this incident had happened. She had already reported it to the Charlottesville police."
Fielding added that once the University Police "have information regarding such an instance, we report it to the administration."
The University is responsible for alerting its students to possible safety concerns, according to Leonard W. Sandridge, executive vice-president and chief operating officer at the University.
"Our purpose is both to promote safety and prevent crime," he said. "There is a federal requirement that information about criminal activity must be available to students."
According to Virginia Carter, director of external relations for the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, both Sandridge, as well as Patricia Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, approved e-mails directed to large sections of the student body.
"I think any time that there's a question of safety or security and we feel students need to protect themselves, that's the basic criteria for selection," Carter said. "We do work very closely with the police, and we work with them in making those judgement calls."
Carter said that parents who contacted the Office of Student Affairs seem particularly concerned about student safety issues.
"We often talk to parents who want to know if their students heard about these incidents," Carter said. "I think parents know that sometimes students can have this false sense of security, and they help to remind us that sometimes students need to get information in different ways."
Fielding said information regarding the Saturday assault in the University hospital area will be released to Health System employees, but not to the general student body.
"We will restrict the releases to within the Health System unless we have reason to believe that there's potential for the incidents to happen anywhere else," Fielding said.
Anyone with information about either case is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 977-4000.
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