POSTED AT 12:00 AM ON Aug. 31, 2006 | PRINT | Email | SHARE | COMMENTS (0)

A female freshman reported to the IU Police Department she was assaulted Tuesday evening while walking past the volleyball courts near Forest Quad.

The student told police she encountered a male while walking toward Forest from the Education Building at about 9:15 p.m. when she noticed he was carrying a small pocket knife. After she passed the subject, the student said he grabbed her from behind and put his hand over her mouth.

The student said she then broke free, ran and tripped, causing her to cut her upper lip, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said. The suspect did not attempt to take any of her possessions or assault her sexually, she said.

She described the perpetrator as a white male with medium-length dark hair in his mid-twenties, said Minger, reading from a police report. The subject was wearing a white shirt with the wording "B-Town" and carried a pocket knife. The student described her attacker as about 5' 9" and "big-boned but not fat."

Dispatch received a call at 9:25 p.m. and sent police cars and an ambulance. Officers found the female distraught with a two-inch superficial cut along her upper lip.

Police officers questioned people in the area, including eight males playing volleyball, but nobody had noticed the attack, Minger said. Police will increase patrols in the area, he said.

"We ask everyone, that if you have any information, even if you were in the area and didn't see anything, that would be very helpful," Minger said. "There may have been somebody who actually saw it and didn't report it."

Minger said he advises all students to use common sense and pay attention to their surroundings, especially when walking home alone. Cell phones can also allow victims to report crimes immediately, which gives police a much greater chance of a successful investigation.

"A scream, or her running toward a group of people would have helped," Minger said. "You really can't cover every scenario that might exist."