A 19-year-old female University student came away physically unharmed from a reported attempted attack between Gerlinger Hall and the Knight Library on Wednesday night, but the male assailant wasn’t as lucky.
The woman was walking between the two buildings about 8:15 p.m. when a man tried to grab her from behind, Eugene Police Officer Randy Sewell said. The woman quickly turned, fired pepper spray into his eyes and hit him on his left cheek with her keys, he said.
“This woman pretty much unloaded on him,” Sewell said. “I’m pretty impressed with her.”
The attacker ran away into the Pioneer Cemetery, he said, and the woman ran to a friend’s house just off campus, where she called the police.
Although the reported incident was brief, the woman was able to give police a description with a few specific characteristics. She described the man as white, in his late 20s, about 6 feet tall and having a medium build. But she also reported a “noticeable mole” on his right cheek, and Sewell added the man probably has scratches or bruises on his left cheek from being hit by the keys.
Sewell added that the man was dressed all in black — hat, shirt and pants.
The campus has been the site of a number of attempted assaults since spring term 2001, including a Jan. 30
attempted rape behind the library. But Sewell wasn’t sure if this
attack was connected to
any previous incident — including Tuesday night’s reported
attempted armed robbery outside Gerlinger.
He added that the man described by the woman seemed younger than the descriptions of previous attackers.
“It could possibly be related to the attacks, but this area has been plagued by this kind of activity,” Sewell said.
Project Saferide dispatcher Andi Pietruszka, working Wednesday night, agreed the area is becoming a notably dangerous place on campus, and the sudden increase in attacks is uniquely disturbing.
“Last year they were more spread out. This year they seem more frequent and in a more confined location around campus. It’s scary,” she said.
Pietruszka, a junior, said Saferide has been so booked lately that the shuttle service has had to turn women away. She praised the Department of Public Safety for also shuttling students around campus.
“I’d hate to tell women, ‘Sorry, we can’t take any more riders,’” she said.
Sewell said anyone with information about the attack should call DPS or the EPD Campus Detail Office at 346-2904.