Update at 1:55 p.m.: University of Oregon President Michael Schill sent an email to campus earlier this afternoon addressing these incidents. “There is nothing more important than the safety and well-being of our students,” Schill wrote. “We are writing to share information about the steps we are taking to address off-campus safety, and to urge everyone on campus to take care of each other.”
Schill wrote that the UOPD is working closely with the Eugene Police Department so that both departments can share information and tactics. UOPD is also working with the Oregon Department of Justice to install neighborhood cameras this week.
Two University of Oregon students were the victims of serious crimes near the UO Campus, according to an email announcement sent out by UO Police Department Monday night.
On the evening of March 17, a student said he was walking to Tom’s Market on 19th and Agate Street when he was grabbed by an unknown man, dragged into a car, driven to an unknown location and then sexually assaulted. The suspect, who was described as a thinly built, 6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 4 inches white male wearing a black hoodie, black pants, and a black bandana, fled on foot. The survivor provided no description of the driver.
The second incident occurred on the afternoon of March 15. The victim was a UO student walking on 15th Avenue between Alder and Kincaid. The student said she was approached by three men speaking Spanish; one of them pushed her up against a car while the other two tried to cut the straps of her backpacks with knives. After pulling out her phone and telling the men she called the police, the suspects fled.
According to the email, the student described the first suspect as white, around 25 years old and about 6 feet tall with a lean build. He had blond collar-length hair, was clean shaven and had brown or hazel eyes. He was wearing a red Columbia jacket and an Oregon baseball hat.
The email described the second suspect as a 28 to 30 year old Hispanic man weighing about 280 pounds and wearing a blue-striped shirt. The knife he used had a six-inch fixed blade with blue electrical tape on the handle.
The third suspect was described as a 28 to 30 year old Hispanic man wearing a white tank top and using a pocket knife. The email described him as taller than 6 feet with a medium build. The suspect had dark black hair in a short ponytail, was clean shaven, and had brown eyes
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