Female attacked on campus

A female Corvallis resident was attacked late Tuesday night as she walked across the OSU campus.

The woman was walking near 30th Street and Campus Way when the assailant approached her from behind and hit her on the head, according to the notice released by the Oregon State Police early Wednesday morning. The man attempted to remove her clothes and the woman hit him on the nose. The assailant then fled. The victim incurred minor injuries but was not taken to the hospital.

“We’re very appreciative of the tips we’ve been receiving,” said Sargeant Vonn Schleicher of the Oregon State Police. “We encourage folks to continue to send in info by calling or emailing Oregon State Public Safety.”

The man was described as white, in his early to mid 20s, about six feet tall, with a thin face, bushy eyebrows, short dark hair and a “bulky build,” said Lieutenant Steve Mitchell, also of the Oregon State Police, in a phone interview on Wednesday. Mitchell also said the man probably has a broken or swollen nose or blackened eye.

The suspect was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the outline of OSU letters in orange on the front, dark jeans and dark tennis shoes according to the notice.

Police have been unable to identify a suspect, but will continue interviews with the student to see if she remembers more details from the attack, Mitchell said. Police will also try to determine whether video surveillance around the area might have captured the assault, and are following leads called in from the community.

Mitchell recommends students who must walk at night do so in pairs and avoid poorly-lit streets. If a student must walk alone, he suggests the student inform someone of where he or she is going and when he or she will likely arrive. Mitchell recommended students consider using Safe Ride, a service available to OSU students that provides late night transportation to and from campus.

If a student suspects he or she is being followed, Mitchell recommends walking faster, making noise, calling 911 and using the blue light phones around campus.

Police do not believe the attack is related to a series of break-ins at students’ apartments last month, said Corvallis Police Captain Dave Henslee. In those cases, a man broke into the women’s homes near the 2200 and 2300 blocks of Harrison Boulevard on Dec. 5 and rifled through their underwear drawers.

Nothing was removed from the residences, but the man took one woman’s undergarments out of her drawer and laid them on the bed. The victims who woke during the intrusion described the man as a six foot tall, white, with a thin build. Henslee said Corvallis Police have no suspects in that case.

McKinley Smith, news reporter
news@dailybarometer.com

CORRECTION Jan. 17, 2013 15:52: The headline for this story in the Jan. 17, 2013 print edition incorrectly said the woman who was a attacked was a student. She is not a student. The Barometer regrets the error.