The Red and Black

Issue date: 9/30/97 Section: Undefined Section

Athens-Clarke County Police are inves- tigating two reported rapes in the down- town area Friday night and early Saturday morning. The first reported rape occurred between 11 and 11:30 p.m. on Dearing Street at Finley Street. A 19-year old female University student told police she went with several friends to a party at an apartment near downtown. While at the party, the victim went out- side alone to smoke a cigarette, a police report said. According to the report, as the victim was walking in front of the residence, she was approached by the male suspect, who began talking with the victim and asked her if she knew of any good partie. The suspect asked the victim for a ciga- rette, and as she reached for the cigarette, the report said the suspect grabbed the victim, pulled her close and kissed her. The victim said she reacted by pushing the suspect back and saying to him, "What are you doing?" According to the report, the suspect then shoved the student onto the ground, groped and raped her. The victim said she did not cry out for help because she was told that if she fought back, it would be "worse on her," the report said. The suspect then fled down the street, the report said. The suspect is a white male in his early 20s, of medium build, and about 5 feet 10 inches tall. He was described as having dark hair of medium length, large hands, a tan and a square face with beard stubble. The suspect was wearing blue jeans, a dark T-shirt and a white baseball cap with a faded red UGA logo, the report said. The victim reported the rape and sim- ple battery to the police and was trans- ported to the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) house for rape victims. The second attack occurred on Hull Street at Broad Street between 11:30 p.m. Friday and 2 a.m. Saturday, police said. An 18-year old visitor told police she was sitting on a bench outside a Clayton Street bar. According to a police report, the woman was upset because she had been separated from her friends and needed to go to the bathroom, but didn't know where to go. She was approached by four or five males who saw her crying, the report said. The victim told the men she needed to go to the bathroom, and the police report said they told her that if she followed them, they would show her where to go. They showed the victim a place behind a dumpster where she could go to the bath- room, and after several minutes, several of the men came behind the dumpster, the police report said. The men forced the victim onto the pavement, and the victim told police that she was then raped by four of the men before they all ran off. The suspects were described as black males. No further description was given. The victim was taken by her friends to St. Mary's Hospital and then to the SANE house for examination. ACC Police Maj. Frank Platt said both victims were interviewed extensively over the weekend.. Platt said there are "no new develop- ments at this time." Safety officials caution people to be very careful when out alone. "We don't like for people to have to restrict their lives," said Nanci Newton, co- coordinator of the Northeast Georgia Rape Crisis Center. "But we want people to be very careful walking alone at night - both men and women. The downtown area appears to be extremely hazardous right now."

 

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