Feb 19, 2009 3:59 pm US/Pacific
Sexual Predator Strikes 11 Times Near UC Berkeley
BERKELEY (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Police have warned members of University of California at Berkeley sororities about a sexual predator who has been approaching women late at night.
Police said they were doing all they could to look for a man who has been coming up from behind college-age women and trying to lift their skirts and then sexually assault them.
After four assaults were reported earlier this month within two blocks of each other along the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Piedmont Avenue, officers went door-to-door Wednesday night to warn the leaders of sororities and fraternities about the predator.
Police said Thursday that a total of eleven cases were reported in Berkeley in an area south of the campus since October of last year, with one woman being assaulted twice in separate incidents.
Of the most recent incidents, two occurred last Saturday night and two occurred the night of Feb. 5, police spokesman Andrew Frankel said. Six incidents occurred in the early morning hours of Jan. 24.
The first sexual assault occurred on Oct. 31 of last year between 1 and 2 a.m. on Piedmont north of Dwight Way. The victim was wearing a skirt and coming from a fraternity party, Frankel said.
All of the assaults have taken place between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., usually when fraternity and sorority parties are letting out, according to Frankel. The victims all wore skirts.
Police believe that one man is responsible for all the incidents based on his method of operation and descriptions of him, he said.
However, because the suspect has approached the victims from behind, the victims have been unable to get a detailed description of him, Frankel said.
Frankel said the victims generally have described the suspect as a white male in his early 20s who is about 5-foot-10 with a medium build and short dark wavy hair.
He urged witnesses to any of the incidents to call the Berkeley Police Department's sex crimes detail at (510) 981-5735. People who want to remain anonymous can call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS, Frankel said.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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