The Herald Online

Issue date: 3/8/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Abdullah Raslan Crystal Griffith, a psychology major from McCrory, looks at one of the flyers that were recently posted in residence halls urging students to be safe on campus.

The investigation into the sexual assault at the PiKA house last Saturday morning has still not produced any leads, but a UPD police report has now provided full descriptions of both suspects.

The first suspect is described as 5-foot-11-inch African American male with a light complexion and a medium build. He is also described to have a short "fade" hairstyle and spoke in a "soft" voice.

The second suspect is described as a 5-foot-9-inch African American male with a dark complexion and a medium build. He was also reported to have facial hair described as "fuzz" and to have a "polite demeanor."

He was also reported to have spoken in a "low pitch" voice.

Although the incident was first being described as a sexual assault, which is a generic term, the report that has been filed classifies it as rape.

Rape is described as non-consensual sex, or when one person forces another person to have sex against their will.

When fliers were posted around campus the suspects were only described as black males.

UPD Investigator, Brian Shelton, said the fliers went up at "the earliest opportunity available" and those were the only descriptions available.

"The flyers were being made while I was still interviewing the victim at the hospital," Shelton said.

Shelton also said that placing flyers around campus is a requirement in such a situation.

He said he wasn't able to comment on why the emergency alert system was not utilized in this situation, because EAS is not a program the he controls.

UPD Police Chief, Jim Chapman, was unavailable for comment on the situation.

The UPD police report lists that there are 20 witnesses.

"[We are] still interviewing witnesses," Shelton said. "We are waiting on the results from the crime lab; regretfully, sometimes that is not a speedy process."

Jim Houser, the president of PiKA, said he was working security the night of the incident.

He also said the party did not get out of control and security procedures were in accordance with university policies.

"There are no other witnesses besides the victim that saw the perpetrators in the home," Houser said. "Right now no one can confirm [a description] other than the alleged victim."

Houser also said that there was no other organization taking part in hosting the party.

"There were many members of another organization trying to crash the party," Houser said. "But the party was not co-sponsored."

He did not comment as to which organization he was referring.

He also said that the alleged victim and the suspects were not on the guest list.

"We are trusting campus police to handle the investigation," Houser said.

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