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