Fraternity Party Attack Marks Fourth Sexual Assault In UC Berkeley Area
BERKELEY (CBS) -- In one week, four sexual assaults have been reported in the vicinity of the University of California at Berkeley campus.
UC police said the most recent sexual assault occurred on Friday, February 19th, at an unnamed UC Berkeley fraternity house.
The victim attended a party at a fraternity house on Friday night and reported being sexually assaulted between midnight and 12:45 a.m. Saturday, in a room at the fraternity, campus police said.
The Berkeley Police Department is investigating this crime but have not yet publicly released a suspect description.
Police are also investigating three sexual assaults that occurred between February 11th and February 16th, in the vicinity of the UC Berkeley campus.
Berkeley police released video footage of a possible suspect on Thursday. Detectives are still seeking the community's help in identifying the possible suspect and are encouraging community members to view the video of the person and contact them with any information. The video can be viewed here.
In each of these three cases, Berkeley police said, the suspect appears to be targeting college-age Asian women.
Berkeley police said the female victims have described the suspect as an African American or East Indian male in his early 20s, standing between 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet tall with dark curly hair or dreadlocks pulled back. He was described as wearing a dark colored jacket with a hooded sweatshirt and pants.
The first reported sexual assault occurred at about 9:10 p.m. on February 11 in the 2500 block of Haste Street, adjacent to People's Park, police said.
The victim, a female student at UC Berkeley, was walking past the park when the suspect, who she described as also having a beard, grabbed her from behind , pushed her to the ground and sexually assaulted her, according to campus police.
She then reported the crime to the Berkeley Police Department.
Then, five days later, two more sexual assaults near the university were reported.
At about 11 p.m. on February 16, a woman was sexually assaulted near the intersection of Durant Avenue and Ellsworth Street, police said.
About twenty minutes later, at 11:30 p.m., another woman was assaulted a short distance away in the 2500 block of Benvenue Avenue, less than a block from People's Park and near a UC Berkeley residence hall.
In that incident, the victim chased the suspect through UC Berkeley's Unit 2 parking lot. The suspect was last seen running west on Haste Street.
In 2015, UC police alerted the community to 11 reports of sexual assault or sexual battery, including a July 30, 2015 sexual assault at People's Park.
The sexual assault reported at the fraternity house, is the first reported one in 2016, but in 2015 UC police alerted the community to two reports of sexual assault at UC Berkeley fraternity houses and one at a sorority.
In October, UC police also investigated a potential drugging at a UC Berkeley fraternity.
Other recent scandals have brought increased scrutiny to UC Berkeley fraternities.
Anyone with information about these assaults is urged to contact the Berkeley Police Department Special Victims Unit at 510-981-5735. If a caller wishes to remain anonymous they can call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
By Hannah Albarazi - Follow her on Twitter
