NEWS - The Metropolitan

Female student sexually assaulted in campus parking lot
Attack is first on campus in over four years
By Andrea Schreiner
aschrei3@mscd.edu

    A female student was allegedly sexually assaulted by an unidentified man wearing a ski mask at 9:35 p.m., March 1, in Auraria Parking Lot ‘A’, which is one block northwest of the Auraria Police Department.
    The woman was assaulted by the unarmed assailant while walking to her car, according to Auraria Police, who received information about the incident from Denver Police.
    The suspect is described as a white or Hispanic male, standing about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds. He is believed to be between 25 and 30 years old and was wearing a long-sleeve shirt and baggy black jeans.
    According to Heather Coogan, chief of police for the Auraria Campus, the assailant forced the woman to perform oral sex on him.
    No witnesses were reported and Coogan said she does not know why the assault went unnoticed.
    “ There were a lot of people coming and going because the Nuggets game was ending,” Coogan said.
    After the assault, the woman went home and spoke to her family, who advised her to call Denver Police.
    She went to the District 3 station to report the assault. Denver police accompanied her to Auraria to report the incident to campus police.
    “ We’ve contacted her and offered counseling through the school and the Health Center,” Coogan said.
    There were no sexual assaults reported at Auraria in 2005, according to the Auraria Police statistical comparison.
    “ We have the safest crime statistics of a campus this size in the United States,” Coogan said. “Even motor vehicle theft is pretty small, especially when we park 12,000 cars per day.”
    Red Rocks Community College has similar statistics. Bob Kraus, chief of police at RRCC, said there were no sexual assaults reported in 2005.
    Four cases of forcible rape were reported to the University of Colorado Campus Police in 2005, said Lt. Tim McGraw, who oversees training and staff services.
    The Auraria Police recently had a discussion about what they could do to prevent future assaults, according to Coogan.
    Staff members suggested having better signage indicating the location of the campus police department and improving the lighting in some of the lots that are dark.
    “ Lot ‘A’ is not a dark lot,” Coogan said. “It’s pretty well lit.”
    Emergency phones are in most parking lots, and there is one in Lot ‘A’, Coogan said.
    When a student picks up the phone a strobe light goes off and the phone dials Auraria police, Coogan said. It is not necessary to know where the call is being placed because the Auraria Police has Caller ID.
    Wearing iPods and talking on cell phones is a problem, Coogan said.
    “ People just are not attentive,” Coogan said.
    Students are allowed to carry mace or sound alarms, such as horns or whistles, but guns are not allowed.
    “ The rule concerning weapons is that you never want to carry a weapon that, if turned on you, could be fatal,” Coogan said. “You can survive mace.”
    The Auraria Police offer Rape Awareness Defense (RAD) training several times a year for a nominal fee. The classes are for women only.
    “We typically have poor turnouts,” Coogan said.