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Police Search For Man Who Fondled DU Student

DENVER (CBS4) - The search is on for a man who fondled a female student near the DU campus.

It happened at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Saturday one block east of University Boulevard near South Josephine Street and East Evans Avenue.

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(credit: CBS)

The attack was unusual because the victim was with a friend at the time.

"It's very unfortunate that someone would be that brazen, to walk up on two people, commit a crime like this and then run away," said University of Denver spokesman Will Jones.

The university sent out a campus safety alert on Saturday.

The attack happened quickly, with the suspect running north in an alley between Josephine and Columbine. That person was described as an Hispanic man.

The crime has students at the university wondering what they would do.

Student Rachel Lee said she thinks she might have fought back.

"I think personally I would have been startled and I guess it would have been hard for me to stop that person, especially if they came up out of nowhere and then started running off," she told CBS4.

Lee's friend Daniel Schmidt said being aware of surroundings is important.

"I'm always a pretty cautious person when I go out, and I don't like getting super wasted when walking home," he said.

Lee said the fact that the victim was out in the middle of the night is not an issue.

"You can't live your life in fear," she said. "I mean, you're going to be going out, it's a college campus, kids are going to be out. Going from their friends' houses, coming from like a bar."

Campus police have stepped up patrols on campus.

Additional Resources:

University of Denver officials released the following details about this case:

IF YOU HAVE INFORMATON ON THIS CRIME OR OTHERS, CONTACT:
Denver Police Department 720.913.2000
DU Campus Safety Investigator Albert Monger 303.871.4226 Albert.Monger@du.edu
DU Campus Safety Investigator Billy Cardenas 303.871.6803 Billy.Cardenas@du.edu
DU Anonymous Tip Line 303.871.3130
DU Crime Prevention and Victim Services 303.871.3019

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