Police capture `assailant'
A juvenile suspect was arrested at approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in connection with three sexual assaults that have recently occurred on campus.
"This guy wouldn't have been caught without a lot of really outstanding work by the Campus Police," Dean Currie, vice president for Finance and Administration, said.
The suspect had originally been apprehended at around 9:30 p.m. Monday after a stake-out by several Campus Police officers. He fit the description of a slim-built, clean-shaven black male, 16-18 years old and 5'6" to 5'7" in height. There was not enough information to arrest him on Monday, so the suspect was released into the custody of his parents.
He was arrested on Tuesday after being positively identified by some of the victims and was taken to juvenile detention. He did not confess to committing the crimes and will be tried in juvenile court soon.
Voswinkel feels the suspect is responsible for three of the four assaults that have taken place on campus over the last month -- two of them in the Allen Center / Cohen House lots, and the most recent one in Lot R -- the Hanszen College lot.
In the incident which occurred at 8:30 a.m. last Saturday, the suspect tried to force a woman into her car. According to the Police Incident Report, the suspect asked the victim a few questions and kept moving closer to the victim. He told her to get into the car. She said that she would not, after which he grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to force her into the car. She screamed as loud as she could, and he ran away.
According to Campus Police Chief Mary Voswinkel, the Campus Police set up a task force to apprehend the suspect. The task force, headed by Officer Ray Scholton, staffed the areas where assaults had been occurring and used "decoys" in the lots.
"As a result of the plan that [Scholton] put into place, we were able to capture the individual," Voswinkel said.
The suspect was observed "exhibiting suspicious behavior" prior to his apprehension in the Lovett College lot. This behavior primarily consisted of following people that were walking to their cars.
Officer Alvin Jones Jr., who had decided to use a tree as his vantage point, initially saw the suspect and then radioed his colleagues.
Voswinkel is proud of her force.
"We have an excellent group of officers on campus -- probably one of the best groups I've had since I've been here," she said.
Student Association President Maryana Iskander also commended the Campus Police.
"I think that a good and bad thing definitely happened with this series of assaults. ... Rice is an open place and anybody can come on campus, so these incidents remind us that there's no substitute for personal safety," Iskander said.
This item appeared in the News section of the January 26, 1996 issue.
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