Concern spreads as Ann Arbor police investigate 3 assaults in 4 days near U-M
The area of South State and Monroe, near U-M's Weill Hall, where police are investigating a rape that happened early Monday.
Benjamin Freed | AnnArbor.com
Many who live near the University of Michigan's Central Campus in Ann Arbor say they've typically considered the area safe for walking at night, despite a few safety incidents now and then.
But after three attacks on females in the last four days, concern is on the minds of many students —especially after a woman reported she was raped early Monday on one of Ann Arbor’s main campus streets.
“I probably won’t walk as late at night now. It doesn’t seem smart to tempt fate,” said Tanya Malusev, a U-M junior spending her first summer in Ann Arbor.
“I haven’t heard anything to this extent, and this frequently—it’s a bit disconcerting.”
According to city police, a man approached an 18-year-old woman walking home from a party on South State Street around 12:40 a.m. Monday. He grabbed her before pulling her into an alley in the 700 block, near Weill Hall on U-M’s Central Campus. The woman said she was raped before the man fled northbound on foot wearing a green T-shirt and khaki cargo pants.
Ann Arbor Police Lt. Renee Bush said police dispatchers received a call soon after the alleged attack, and officers arrived within 90 seconds. The woman was immediately transported to the University of Michigan Hospital.
Several area restaurants, including Quickie Burger, Pizza Bob’s and Mr. Spots, closed early Sunday and employees who left around midnight told AnnArbor.com today they had seen nothing abnormal.
Yet as students walked through the area Monday, many said they were caught by surprise at the “severity” of the State Street attack.
Though all three incidents occurred off campus, University Police distributed a crime alert to the campus community.
“The fact that it happened on State—that’s not a side street, that’s a main road,” Lindsey Fox said, explaining how she frequently walks home in the area at night.
Fox said she carries a knife with her “just to be safe,” but said heavy foot traffic into the early morning hours has lessened her worries of danger.
“I just book it, I walk really fast and just avoid eye contact with people,” Fox said.
During the summer, people spend time outside and Fox said some crime is to be expected around a college campus.
"It seems like events like that are becoming more common," she said. "That's a big deal."
Andrew Ferrara, who lives off State Street and works for the university, said many students are used to the safety of walking around Ann Arbor compared to other cities with higher crime rates. Though a handful of incidents may not catch the attention of people living in other cities, students here are caught off guard, he said.
The attack comes days after two other assaults near downtown, one in the 900 block of Greenwood Avenue, and another in the 400 block of North Division. Police are seeking other suspects in those incidents.
After the North Division attack, a woman told police she was walking near Community High School when a man grabbed her and tried to drag her to a secluded area before she broke free and fled.
Two hours later, at about 2 a.m. Saturday, a woman reported a man had grabbed her from behind on Greenwood Street, lifted up her dress and fondled her. She eventually broke free and fled.
In those two cases, the suspect was described as a man in his late teens or early 20s, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with an olive complexion and a short black hair style. He had no facial hair and was wearing a zipped-up black hooded sweatshirt and khaki cargo pants, authorities said.
The man police are seeking in the sexual assault reported Monday on State Street is white, about 6 feet, 5 inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes, police said.
Additionally, the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety reported a man was attacked Sunday by five men while walking on East University Street near Hill Street.
Five men jumped out of a silver sedan and approached the student, who was walking with another person. One of the men punched the student, who was knocked unconscious when his head hit the ground.
The student was hospitalized and police are working to get a description of the attacker.
U-M Spokeswoman Diane Brown said campus police will increase foot patrols along the edges of campus close to where the weekend attacks occurred. University police received some calls from worried students Monday and Brown said officers would be out in force at night to maintain safety.
Though the university is required by law to send alerts to students for events that pose a threat directly on campus, she said, a decision was made to take it a step further this weekend and report the off-campus attacks.
"We take that a little bit further, realizing how integrated the edges of our campus are to our city," Brown said.
Heidi Fenton covers police and courts for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at heidifenton@annarbor.com or 734-623-4673. You also can follow her on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.
Comments
Milton Shift
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 8:07 p.m.
It was made a felony to possess a tazer in Michigan by what should've been named the Rape Act.
Cat
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 4:21 p.m.
And the City wants to cut how many Police from the budget?
nixon41
Wed, Jul 20, 2011 : 12:23 p.m.
too many
Thomas
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 12:34 p.m.
So how tall is the guy? 5'6 or 6'5? "In those two cases, the suspect was described as a man in his late teens or early 20s, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with an olive complexion and a short black hair style. He had no facial hair and was wearing a zipped-up black hooded sweatshirt and khaki cargo pants, authorities said." "The man police are seeking in the sexual assault reported Monday on State Street is white, about 6 feet, 5 inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes, police said."
Tru2Blu76
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 5:58 a.m.
I view strategies such as "increased foot patrols" as at least partly just for public relations. Sure - seeing uniformed LEOs walking around the "troubled area" will reduce attacks: the perps see the cops and just move to another area. Some other neighborhood will soon be saying, "Thank you so much for sending these violent criminals our way." Budget cuts have forced reduction in police staffing: there's another chance to say, "thank you Republicans for your witty anti-tax strategy." So where are the extra police to walk these patrols? Let the Republican Party pay for hiring and paying the wages for whatever number of officers is needed.
djm12652
Wed, Jul 20, 2011 : 8:26 p.m.
A2 mayor, city council and city admin mgr are all Republicans? How much more effectve police time would that stupid city hall fountain/art thingy cover? Shame on those Republicans for wasting that money on Ugly Hall.
nixon41
Wed, Jul 20, 2011 : 12:22 p.m.
it's NOT the republicans
lester88
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 2:39 a.m.
"Rapundalo said despite the cuts, the number of officers on patrol hasn't gone down and residents should feel secure that city officials are looking out for their safety." How about a comment or two from the Councilman? Not a single comment from any elected officials. I doubt they were even asked. "U-M Spokeswoman Diane Brown said campus police will increase foot patrols along the edges of campus close to where the weekend attacks occurred." Hieftje in previous comments said, "Ann Arbor has more police officers than most think. In addition to the 124 sworn officers in the Ann Arbor Police Department, he said the University of Michigan has 54 officers and they're available to assist the city in emergency situations." I guess these emergencies better happen closer to the edges of campus John.
Atlas Shrugged
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:40 p.m.
EyeHeartA2.... I suspect you already know that carrying a handgun on campus, even with a CCW permit, is illegal. Of course handguns aren't allowed on campus because personal protection isn't necessary. Everyone on campus is assigned personal police protection, right there on the spot in case trouble happens, so why should anyone be able to, or need to, defend themselves? Ricebrnr: Nice message, nice image by your name, but you omitted the all-important head shot.
Ricebrnr
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 2:23 a.m.
Not omitted, calculated. The masses frown upon such things as being "unsporting" and smacking of assasinations. Gotta make the message palatable after all.
Davidian
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:25 p.m.
Ann Arbor is a liberal mecca: To outsiders this equates to passive people that don't fight back. The citizens of Ann Arbor are targets. I would advocate fighting back, and not with "martial arts" as someone absurdly proposed. Self defense has nothing to do with politics and everything about your LIFE. I don't understand why people don't get this.
John B. Knot
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 10:20 p.m.
Ann Arbor. 36 square miles surrounded by reality. That's why.
Atlas Shrugged
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 9:59 p.m.
Davidian.... Of course you know why "people don't get this." You said it yourself: Ann Arbor is a liberal mecca. Remember what Sir Winston Churchill said: A man who isn't a liberal by age 20 has no heart. A man who isn't a conservative by age 30 has no brains. I think Sir Winston would have included women in this too.
Cathie
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:24 p.m.
Let's have police and concerned citizens foot patrols.
Ricebrnr
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 11:07 a.m.
That takes coordunation and some funds. The city got rid of some office persinnel who would coordinate such things and have no money. Also who is responsible if you get hurt or hurt someone?
millermaple
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:48 p.m.
BTW, the freep has a story about police looking for a missing woman in Ann Arbor. Can we get some reporting please? Is there a connection? <a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20110718/NEWS05/110718063/Ann-Arbor-police-search-23-year-old-woman-missing-since-Friday?odyssey=mod" rel='nofollow'>http://www.freep.com/article/20110718/NEWS05/110718063/Ann-Arbor-police-search-23-year-old-woman-missing-since-Friday?odyssey=mod</a>|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
Heidi Fenton
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 12:05 a.m.
@Millermaple Here's a link to the story I wrote on the missing woman: <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-police-search-for-missing-woman-1/">http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-police-search-for-missing-woman-1/</a> Ann Arbor Police Detective Bill Stanford is handling the case and said police were told "the woman may suffer from an emotional disorder." When I spoke with him this afternoon, he told me he does not see any connection to the weekend attacks. Thanks for reading.
City Confidential
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:04 p.m.
There certainly could be a connection, but I saw something about this on the news last night and they said that she has bi-polar disorder and that this could be related to her mental state. Either way, hoping that she is safe and found soon.
EyeHeartA2
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:42 p.m.
"Fox said she carries a knife with her "just to be safe," but said heavy foot traffic into the early morning hours has lessened her worries of danger. " Unless this young lady really knows how to use that knife, I see more harm than good coming from that. I would think a handgun along with a ccw would be a great equalizer. Are those allowed on campus?
John B. Knot
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 10:16 p.m.
Was the movie "Raiders Of The Lost Ark"? Where the martial arts "expert" went up against pistol?
kraiford12
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:51 p.m.
I agree 100% with Davidian & Thomas Jones. Just wanted to point out how silly I feel the U can be with certain things. And Bilbo... if you're comfortable with your karate-kicks and knife-hand-blocks feel free my friend. Those of us who are trained and proficient in firearms would not choose to escalate the situation by drawing our weapons (gun/knife) if we felt it would/could be easily taken away. A fun experiment I tell people who think a couple fancy hand movements can stop an attack from a knife: Give a teenager a fat sharpie marker and tell him to attack you.... see how many dots and slices you'll have on you while you try to take it away. But, I'm not going to hope my 13 years of Martial Arts experience is going to save me from an attacker's fists, knife or gun. I'm going to bring the maximum amount of force necessary to eliminate the threat and in doing so keeping myself and those around me as safe as possible. Eliminate does not always mean "shoot". I do not have to nor do I plan on meeting an attack with that same level of force (hand-hand, knife-knife-gun-gun). I am not saying everyone should carry. If you're not comfortable or well enough trained you'd probably be doing everyone a favor by leaving it locked up at home. But you shouldn't tell others what's best for them when it comes to protecting the lives of themselves and their loved ones.
Thomas Jones
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:27 p.m.
People please!!!! read the laws!!!! First it is a CPL not a CCW. and if it is CONCEALED.... DUH no one knows you have it!!!!!!! At best they can only ask you not to carry on campus and to leave campus if you have a CPL. Trust me when I tell you "I would rather be judged by 12 then carried by 6" Conceal, conceal conceal!!!!
Davidian
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:27 p.m.
Martial Arts? Really? What kung fu movie are you living in?
Davidian
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:23 p.m.
Do the police have x-ray vision? Can they see through purses or layers of clothing? Under the circumstances, this is a law that I would ignore.
Bilbo
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:21 p.m.
Yes that's great, either the criminal will get the gun away and then will be armed, or a struggle will ensue and somebody walking their dog across the street will get shot. I'm all for self-defense like martial arts, but I think guns make the situation much more dangerous.
kraiford12
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:14 p.m.
University of Michigan does not allow any concealed weapon carrying on their properties permit or not. They do not even allow off duty sworn police officers to conceal carry while on university property.
David Briegel
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:39 p.m.
Ricebrnr, You are absolutely correct. Fear is great for hits to A2.com, those that advocate for additional police, the self defense industry, etc. How about someone LEAD! Golly, Imagine leader? A leader with ideas? If we can't take back the very center, heart and soul of our town, it says more about US than THEM. Mary Sue? Greeks? Athletes? Or is someone else responsible? Accountable? AnnArbor.com? Otherwise my first, deleted post was right on target. But you prefer Ricebrnr who says the same thing! MAS, you are right to fear.
John B. Knot
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 10:19 p.m.
David, the UofM police punted to the A2 police. I guess they can pull you over on campus but if a rape occurs, then it's off campus. Maybe if the UofM contributed to the city coffers A2 would be able to provide more patrol officers for the university district.
David Briegel
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 9:03 p.m.
citizen, Oh, maybe because MSC has her own private police force. Maybe? And this is right next door to the Law Quad! Some Universities have campus organizations participate in keeping the central areas well lit and occupied and even provide escorts. Otherwise, the only answers are martial arts and knives and guns. Progressive?
a2citizen
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:11 p.m.
Why would you expect a local university president to lead A2 residents? David, will you lead us? Please?
ThaKillaBee
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:56 p.m.
Your post is borderline incoherent, which might be why the first one was deleted. What are you calling out for? A leader? For what? And are you volunteering?
Linda Peck
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:13 p.m.
This area of campus has not been safe as long as I have been a resident. I lived in that area in 1962 and remember being cautioned not to walk alone at night on campus (or anywhere). One night I was jogging on State Street, near the Arcade, and a police car pulled up and asked me if I was out for a run. I said cheerily (and naively) "YES"! They advised me to head back home as it was not a safe time to be out on the street alone. I did that.
Ricebrnr
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:06 p.m.
I'm all for keeping fear in criminals of law abiding citizens alive.
Milton Shift
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 8:34 p.m.
Unfortunately one of the best deterrents (due to its non-lethal nature), the tazer, is forbidden in our state. It's almost as serious for a women to carry a tazer as it is for a man to rape someone. How this serves anyone but the rapists, I cannot imagine.
Milton Shift
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 8:34 p.m.
Unfortunately one of the best deterrents (due to its non-lethal nature), the tazer, is forbidden in our state. It's almost as serious for a women to carry How this serves anyone but the rapists, I cannot imagine.
kraiford12
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:04 p.m.
What he said
smokeblwr
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 6:50 p.m.
There are not many six foot five white guys walking around. The second perp might be easy to find.
Ricebrnr
Tue, Jul 19, 2011 : 3 p.m.
tsk tsk this would be profiling and as much as it would make sense, we can't have that now can we?
a2citizen
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:13 p.m.
I'm 6'6". But thankfully I don't own a green shirt. Or cargo pants.
EyeHeartA2
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:03 p.m.
swab, swab. jeeze I wish we had "edit"
kraiford12
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:03 p.m.
Because witness/victim identifications are often accurate and correct........dot...dot dot....
EyeHeartA2
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 8:03 p.m.
@MAS; Yep, the cops might ask you a question or two. Even ask for a swap. Five minutes out of anyone's life shouldn't be too big a deal if it helps.
ThaKillaBee
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 7:55 p.m.
Maybe so, but I'd be willing to bet they are still in the minority. He's not saying round them all up, but it IS a unique description that might make the subject stand out more than he ordinarily might.
MAS
Mon, Jul 18, 2011 : 6:53 p.m.
I'm 6'3" so I would guess any white guy in the general range of 6'3" to 6'6" could be a suspect. There are more people matching that description in Ann Arbor than your post implies.