CU student attacked in her<BR> home<P> Case may be linked to sex assault<BR> earlier this month<P> By Kate Larsen, Camera Staff Writer<BR> August 13, 2002<P> A female University of Colorado student awoke<BR> Sunday morning to a man sexually assaulting her —<BR> the second such attack in Boulder in the past two<BR> weeks. <P> Police are investigating whether those cases and possibly a third assault are linked. <P> In the most recent incident, a 20-year-old student awoke to the attack around 6 a.m. in<BR> her bed in the 900 block of Ninth Street. After a struggle, the victim escaped to<BR> another room, and the attacker left the residence. <P> On Aug. 1, a 23-year-old CU student awoke to an early morning attack in her<BR> apartment in the 2000 block of Canyon Boulevard. <P> "We will investigate whether the incidents are related," said Jennifer Bray,<BR> spokeswoman for Boulder police. "We can't rule it out." <P> Additionally, police are investigating whether the assaults are related to an incident<BR> Sunday morning in which a 17-year-old girl was attacked while jogging on a path in<BR> the Wonderland Lake area. Bray said that assault was very different from the other<BR> two. <P> <b> In each assault at the residences, the attacker entered through an unlocked door,</b><BR> police said in a release. In the most recent attack, police think the suspect entered the<BR> Ninth Street residence through an unlocked basement door. <P> After escaping to another room and closing a door behind her, the victim heard her<BR> attacker leave, and then she called 911, Bray said. The woman was treated for minor<BR> injuries at Boulder Community Hospital and released. <P> Bray was unsure whether hospital staff was able to collect any DNA evidence<BR> related to the assault. <P> The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic male between the ages of 20 and 40,<BR> 5 feet 7 inches tall, thin to medium build with short, spiked, brown, thinning hair. The<BR> victim told police he was unshaven. <P> The description was similar in some ways to the suspect in the Aug. 1 incident.<BR> However, that suspect was described as having shoulder-length black hair, a<BR> mustache and goatee. <P> Police collected what they said they thought were samples of the attacker's body<BR> fluids from the scene and were hopeful they could develop a DNA profile. <P> Bray said she has been in contact with off-campus housing staff to increase<BR> personal safety education efforts for CU students. <P> "With this rash of sexual assaults, I think that's something we'll want to tackle," Bray<BR> said. <P> Police typically increase patrols in the University Hill area as students return in the fall,<BR> she said. <P> Once again, police are reminding everyone to secure their homes. <P> "Please lock your doors and windows — don't make it easy on the creeps," Bray said.<P> Anyone with information may call Boulder Police Detective Jane Harmer at (303)<BR> 441-3381, or Crime Stoppers at (303) 440-STOP. <P> Contact Kate Larsen at larsenk@thedailycamera.com or (303) 473-1361.<P><a href="http://www1.dailycamera.com/bdc/city_news/article/0";>http://www1.dailycamera.com/bdc/city_news/article/0<;/a>,1713,BDC_2422_1322582,00.html