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Posted on Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 10:26 a.m.

Woman surrounded, groped by 3 men on University of Michigan campus

By AnnArbor.com Freelance Journalist

Campus police are investigating an alleged groping incident that involved the use of an anti-gay slur against a woman walking on the University of Michigan campus late Saturday.

The woman told police that three unknown men approached her as she walked northbound through Ingalls Mall, near the 800 block of East Washington Street, between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.

The men taunted her with an anti-gay slur, and one of the men grabbed her multiple times, including her arm and breast, before she was able to push free and flee, U-M police said in a crime alert dated Sunday.

The suspects did not pursue the woman and she did not seek medical attention.

The main suspect is described as an 18 to 20 year-old, 6-foot white male of medium build, medium-length blonde hair and unshaven. He was wearing a light-colored T-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call (734) 763-1131.

Comments

nickcarraweigh

Tue, Jun 12, 2012 : 6:42 p.m.

The victim recanted her story, eventually, and everybody lived happily ever after, not counting the abused macaw which still resents those foreign language requirements.

Goodphotographer

Tue, Jun 12, 2012 : 12:47 a.m.

Why is this story still up?

Peter Eckstein

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 4:16 p.m.

"Sounds like your typical intoxicated BroDude out with his fellow DudeBros." This reads like an effort to trivialize this incident, just some drunks having a little fun. An incident like this can be traumatic for the victim, and depending on its severity,can cause nightmares while awake and fears while awake triggered by small associations--possibly over many years. If "BroDude" reacts this way while drunk, I hope a judge includes a few years in AA along with whatever jail time the law provides.

trespass

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 12:01 p.m.

We need to keep an eye on the Clery report for this year to see if they include this as a hate crime. I bet they will not because they don't want to tarnish the image of the University. There have been a number of bias incidents but they never make it into the Clery statistics because the underlying crime, such as vandalism is not required to be reported in the Clery statistics. The UM won't actually do anything to reduce such bias incidents unless they think that it is affecting their reputation.

Carole

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 10:43 a.m.

I'm so glad the young lady was able to get away. To the mayor and council, tell me again how safe it is in Ann Arbor -- bring our police force, as well as the fire department, back to full staff.

hail2thevict0r

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 12:33 p.m.

The problem is that normal police wouldn't have been patrolling this area. This is the campus police jurisdiction and one of the larger spaces, outside of the Diag, without any roads going through it. As far as I know the campus police staff hasn't been cut in any way. These kinds of things are, unfortunately, always going to happen on large college campuses with drunk, or just stupid, kids roaming around. That doesn't mean it's OK it just means that you can never prevent 100% of crime. The real problems have been the crimes that have been happening around campus. The armed robberies of kids walking down side streets, sexual assaults and things of that nature. Those are becoming all the more frequent.

lisandrageorge

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 9:40 a.m.

Although past recessions have been easier on college grads than high school grads, the needs of a ""21st century economy"" have magnified the stark difference between education level and joblessness that is why we need degree from High Speed Universities

chubbybunny

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 3:34 a.m.

Annarbor.com, please review/edit your freelancers' stories before they are posted. Most of the comments made on "bad writing" or "bad reporting" seem to be with freelancers.

Joe_Citizen

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 11:43 p.m.

I try not to judge the writers here, so I'm not going to start now. But the headings are always off, and it is a direct accusation from the story. If any of us was to say they're guilty, their policy is to violate our postings. So it is perfectly clear here that it is hypocritical for them to say it happened in the heading, but not the story. The first sentence said that it is an alleged groping. So this is saying that who ever did it or if it even happened, that they are guilty before they even get arrested. The heading should say "alleged groping on campus", or something like that. The heading make it look like it happened, but who really knows until it is investigated.

Tru2Blu76

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 8:53 p.m.

U of M prohibits the possession and use of self defense weapons: so where were the U of M police and why didn't they (as U of M's protective agency) STOP this assault? When the University of Michigan starts providing 100% 24/7/365 crime prevention all over THEIR property, then the University will have the "right" to deprive people of their right to defend themselves. Well, no, this University and all others actually LACK the authority to deprive any citizens of their inalienable right to defend themselves. Just thought that issue should be clarified. Are you paying attention, Michigan??

Madeleine Borthwick

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 2:20 p.m.

TruBlu76, the U of M police are pretty much useless. I used to work on central campus as a security guard and they were NEVER there when I needed them, and this happened to other guards too if what I heard on my radio was any indication..

hail2thevict0r

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 12:27 p.m.

What do you mean? You can carry pepper spray on campus grounds. Something this simple probably would have stopped all three guys in their tracks.

nickcarraweigh

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 6:35 p.m.

It's no cut-and-paste job, although it does in fact appear to be an uncredited verbatim copy of the Detroit Free Press posting -- with the exception of a corrected spelling error. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to steal this story before they polished it up.

jim

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 4:47 p.m.

No, they copy & pasted from the Free Press website.

u812

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 4:16 p.m.

Absolutely nothing Surprises me in Southeastern Michigan anymore.

Craig Lounsbury

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 4:50 p.m.

I might suggest when it comes to crime and boorish behavior Southeast Michigan has never been unique for good or bad.

Billy

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 3:29 p.m.

Sounds like your typical intoxicated BroDude out with his fellow DudeBros.

KMHall

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 5:40 p.m.

Typical? Most BroDudes I know, however douchy, refrain from this sort of activity. A good outcome would be for the guy/guys to learn to maintain boundaries even under the influence, before they get into worse trouble.

Terri Eagen-Torkko

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 3:07 p.m.

It took you several hours to copy and paste the crime report from DPS? How about some reporting? Analysis of hate-crime statistics for Ann Arbor and/or the campus?

Ron Granger

Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 2:12 p.m.

Terri, where does the money for this analysis you speak of come from? Do you think a2.com is a large operation, with dozens of reporters stationed at desks, waiting to hit the road and dig into stories? Maybe you'd like to volunteer your time, if this issue is important to you.

Terri Eagen-Torkko

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 7:17 p.m.

Why not an analysis of hate-crime stats? We have a university full of people who research sexual assault, lgbt-focused crime, violence against women, etc. Call them.

pvitaly

Sun, Jun 10, 2012 : 3:35 p.m.

Analysis of hate-crime stats... why?