A man grabbed a woman at a University of Memphis parking lot, exposed himself and demanded that she touch his genitals.
This happened around midnight Monday, according to a safety alert sent to all U of M students from Campus Police Services.
The man, who has not been identified, ran away without harming the woman.
Police are investigating the incident as “forcible fondling” and “exhibitionism”, according to an email from Bruce Harber, the chief of U of M police.
The women told the U of M Campus Police Services that she was attacked at the parking lot at Southern and Patterson. The woman was not injured, and there appears to have been no weapons involved.
Police described the man to be in his mid-20s, about 5-foot-10 inches tall, with a medium build and African American. He was said to be wearing a light blue hooded-sweatshirt.
“The University Police Department will work with the Memphis Police Department to investigate this incident,” Harber said in an email to U of M students and employees. “Police patrols will be increased in the parking lots and nearby areas”
The Monday night event raises concerns, especially to nearby residents.
“I’m not going to lie, every time I walk outside, especially at night, I try to be very aware of my surroundings,” Mariah Marlowe, 21, junior U of M student, said.
Marlowe lives at the Gather on Southern, the apartment complex right next to the parking lot where the woman was grabbed.
“Something my dad always taught me to do is look confident, because if you look confident and in charge, then an attacker might be less likely to approach you,” Marlowe said. “And never be on your phone when walking alone.”
Chase Elliot, 21, junior accounting major at the U of M said he believes to have heard gunshots earlier this year in the parking lot of Southern and Houston. Elliott is also a resident at the Gather on Southern apartment complex.
“There is a police services building right in that parking lot and it is clearly not deterring criminal activity in that lot,” Elliott said. “A friend of mine had his tires stolen right off his car in that lot. We aren’t allowed to carry firearms on campus but we are increasingly feeling unsafe. Something has to change.”
Excluding Monday night’s crime, there have been at least two sexual offenses on the U of M campus since the beginning of the year. However, previous offenses were in U of M dorms.
One was a sexual assault and the other was a forcible fondling. Both occurred in Rawls Hall.
Last year, there were more sexual offenses on the University of Memphis campus than in any year since 2007.
In 2015, there was one rape and five forcible fondling on campus reported to U of M police, according to the most recent Tennessee Bureau of Investigations Crime on Campus report.
Students can from dusk until dawn call the Tiger Escort Program, which will give a ride to students from their building to their car on campus. Also, students can sign up to receive TigerText emergency alert messages online.
