Last week, the Department of Campus Safety (DCS) issued two crime alerts for three cases of sexual assault and harassment that took place near campus this month.

On Saturday, DCS released a crime alert reporting a woman was groped while walking near campus Saturday morning at 2:44 a.m. The report comes following another issued Wednesday reporting another groping incident near campus and a case of indecent exposure a week earlier.

According to Saturday’s crime alert, “The victim was walking in the alley between University Blvd and Josephine St when she walked past a male who grabbed her breasts and ran off while the victim yelled at him.”

According to DCS crime prevention officer Stephen Banet, the woman was not affiliated with DU. However, officers were called to the scene by Denver Police Department (DPD) so DCS could file a report and issue a crime alert warning students that the assault had occurred near campus.

On Wednesday, a crime alert was issued for two additional crimes. On Sept. 1, a man grabbed a woman jogging in Washington Park and attempted to force her into an alley, while in the other case a man exposed himself to a student walking near Johnson McFarland Hall on Sept 8. There are no suspects in either case, and no descriptions of the individuals have been released.

“We got the information first-hand from the mother who called day or so after the fact and she was trying to get the student to report the incident to us,” Banet said about the exposure case.  “ We were not able to take report or find out where this occurred or any sort of a suspect description.”

Full reports were not taken in either case because both incidents were reported to DCS through second parties.
Banet said it is also currently unclear if the woman grabbed in Washington Park is a student.

A few days before the incident, a professor reported to DCS that a student had told her she was grabbed while in Washington Park; however, the student never made an official report.

Banet was later made aware of a crime alert released by DPD last Tuesday reporting a similar incident. DPD did not confirm if the victim was a DU student.

“After a day or so DPD puts out a crime alert about an incident that happened in the similar place, and I called DPD to try to confirm if this is one in the same or is it two separate incidents in Wash Park,” said Banet.

According to the crime alert released by DPD, “officers contacted the adult female victim who stated that she was running eastbound on E. Ohio Avenue when she was grabbed by an unknown suspect and pulled into the Corona/Ogden alley. The suspect covered the victim’s mouth and dragged her into the alley. The victim was able to fight the suspect off and sprayed him with pepper spray.”

The suspect described in the case is a male of an unknown race and about 5’ 5” tall, wearing a long sleeved shirt and possibly a dark skull cap.

Although the victim may not be a DU student, Banet said DCS put out Wednesday’s crime alert to remind students to be cautious.

The DCS crime alert was released with the following tips to help students remain safe:
Remain aware of your surroundings and travel in groups rather than alone.
Increase your awareness by not listening to music or talking on your phone when walking.
Stay in well-lit areas such as main pathways and public sidewalks.
If you are followed, go to a place of safety, i.e. open business or classroom.
If students have information on these crimes or others, they are encouraged to call DCS at the following number: 303-871-2334.