Police Remind U-M Students About Unsolved Attacks
ANN ARBOR (AP) - Returning University of Michigan students should be on guard after a series of summer attacks on women, the city's police chief said. Two women were raped in July and four others were grabbed or fondled before breaking free. The attacks were mostly downtown between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
"The person seemingly has disappeared," Ann Arbor Police Chief Barnett Jones told the Detroit Free Press for a story Tuesday. "But being mindful of that does not allow us to drop our guard. And I don't want the students to drop their guard also. He has not been caught."
Megan Hayes, 20, of Portage said she will encourage her new sorority sisters to stay in groups and use the free library taxi after 2 a.m.
"I feel like it's like my responsibility not only that they feel comfortable on campus but they just feel at home and don't need to be worried about too much as far as (the attacks)," she said. "If they're going out or they're at the library, and they're by themselves, I'll go and walk home with them - or go pick them up so that they're not stranded and need to walk home by themselves."
Her roommate Lauren Russell, 20, of Essexville, said she was nervous when she moved into her off-campus rental home Saturday with four other women.
"I'm hoping it was a summer thing, because there wasn't that many people here during the summer, and that there will be a lot more students here now, so they won't take that chance," she said.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
