Three apparently random attacks on young women walking alone at night in Boulder in less than a week have police and University of Colorado authorities on edge.
A 20-year-old said she was gang-raped by four men on Oct. 30. Two other women said they were knocked unconscious by unseen assailants on Monday and Tuesday nights.
The woman who reported the gang rape said she was walking home from a Halloween party when she was attacked in an alley east of 15th Street and north of Arapahoe Avenue.
A 30-year-old woman said she was hit in the back of the head as she walked behind a business in the 1600 block of Broadway Monday night. She was knocked unconscious but thinks she was sexually assaulted. She contacted police on Wednesday.
Today, police said a 20-year-old woman was approached from behind in a parking lot in a parking lot Tuesday night in the 1100 block of University Avenue. She remembered he whispered something in her ear, and when she regained consciousness she was face down on that ground. She did not think she had been raped, however.
University of Colorado officials issued a statement today urging students students to abide by safety training offered by the university during student orientation, including traveling in groups at night and limiting alcohol use.
“While we never want to blame victims for their assaults, we do want to stress that a combination of community and individual actions can work to make the campus and Boulder safer,” CU Dean of Students Deb Coffin said in a statement.
Anyone with information can call police at 303-441-3330 during business hours or 303-441-3333 after business hours. Tips also can be reported to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at .
