A crime similar to the four sexual assaults near campus that occurred in July happened last night, as a woman was fondled when she was walking on the 400 block of South First Street near William Street.
The 20-year-old woman, who is not a University student, was “forcibly fondled” on her chest and groin and then broke free, according to a University Department of Public Safety crime alert. The incident occurred just after midnight on Tuesday.
The description of the suspect is a darker white or Hispanic man of medium build and height who was wearing a baseball hat and was unshaven, according to the crime alert. The suspect fled northbound on foot, the crime alert states.
The description of the suspect is similar to the one or two suspects police have been searching for in connection to the assaults during the summer. After the six assaults — including four sexual assaults in July — the Ann Arbor Police Department released a composite sketch of two suspects.
The assaults in the summer took place near campus, including one on the 700 block of South State Street, one on Greenwood Avenue and another on Division Street near Community High School.
AAPD and DPS, as well as other police departments including the FBI, have continued looking for the suspect this semester and have increased patrols on and around campus since the summer.
AAPD Chief Barnett Jones said in a Sept. 2 discussion with The Michigan Daily that he and the other members of the police force are determined to find the suspect to bring him to justice.
“We all want this person because he’s taken away the personal security of the people in our community,” Jones said.
Before classes began, Jones, DPS Chief Greg O’Dell, Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones, and Holly Rider-Milkovich, the director of the University’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, went around to off-campus student houses to encourage students to take increased safety measures such as not walking alone at night, locking doors and calling SafeRide for a ride home.