Female UCLA student sexually assaulted on stairway known as the Rape Trail

LOS ANGELES | January 28, 2012

Police continue a search for a man accused of sexual assault of a female UCLA student, the university which is ranked second of all universities nationwide and first in community service according to Washington Monthly's rankings.

The sexual assault occurred at about 2:20 a.m. Friday at the top of the steps that connects the Saxon Suites dormitories with Gayley Avenue also known as the Rape Trail. The man accused of the assault called out to the female UCLA student while she was climbing the steps. After a short conversation, the man sexually assaulted her. Their brief conversation could have sounded something similar to the following: "Hey. What's your name? What's your major? Do you live around here? Yes? Well take some of this," and the sexual assault occurred. The assault victim eventually got away from the man and immediately called the police, who arrived shortly thereafter and after the man had already fled the scene, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

It appears that UCLA police are looking for the suspect who is described as a 6 foot tall white male weighing 150 pounds and about 21 years old with short brown hair and blue eyes, according to a crime alert issued by the UCLA's campus police department.

NBC4 was told by several students that the sexual assault occurred along a narrow stairway where other similar crimes have occurred in the past. Those students said that female students usually try to avoid walking the stairway alone at night.