On Nov. 20, Kamela Douglas, a University of Memphis student, was heading to the second floor of The U of M bookstore when an unidentified suspect tried to force himself on her.
Douglas entered the elevator when the unknown suspect came in with her, according
To campus police reports. The suspect then grabbed Douglas' arm, unzipped his pants to expose himself and shook her.
When the elevator reached the second floor Douglas ran out and the police report said the suspect shouted "come back, baby."
Police are currently looking at the video footage taken from the bookstore security cameras. They have yet to make an arrest and have not identified anyone, but Bruce Harber, the director of public safety, encouraged anyone around or working at the bookstore that day to call with any additional details.
"We're asking anyone who was around that day if they can find somebody who looks even close," he said.
Douglas described the suspect to the police as a black man 18-20 years old, about 5 feet tall and 170 pounds wearing a winter hat, red and black "Nascar" style coat, baggy denim jeans and had a gap in his front teeth.
According to Harber, Douglas did not immediately alert police.
"I'm assuming he went back down and she went about her business," Harber said.
He said the incident actually took place at about 12:30 p.m. and Douglas was on the second floor for another 20 minutes. She then came down to see if the suspect was walking around the bookstore.
At a little before 1 p.m., Harber said Douglas went to Wilder Tower to inform a friend, who was a staff worker there, about the incident. He said the staff must have told her to call police, but he implied that she should have alerted police at the time of the incident.
"I'm not trying to come down on her or anything," Harber said. "But when that kind of incident happens, the victims need to alert police immediately."
Harber said the suspect's time in the bookstore was short.
Wednesday afternoon, staff on the UC bookstore's second floor were asked if they noticed any problems in the last week and a half. They said they have not heard or seen any suspicious activity.
Some staff from both the Tiger Copy and Graphics and the credit union were present on Nov. 20. However, they did not hear about the simple assault on Douglas.
