A University student was assaulted shortly after midnight Monday night while walking home on 15th Street.
According to Ric Barrick, director of communications for the City of Charlottesville, the male student reported that he was approached from behind by three men. One of the men said something to the student and then punched him in the nose. The student ran home and called the police, Barrick said.
The student described one of the assailants as a black male in his twenties, between six feet two inches and six feet four inches, weighing about 175 pounds and wearing a white T-shirt.
Barrick said the perpetrators "scattered" in the time between the assault and when police arrived, preventing an arrest.
"One thing we do want to stress is that we need to have folks call the police as soon as they can," he said.
Despite certain similarities, police officers currently do not believe the assault is connected to the string of previous assaults this summer carried out by youths in white T-shirts. The attackers in the eight or nine other assaults that are believed to be connected were reportedly younger than those responsible for Monday's incident. The other assaults also took place in the downtown area, rather than near the University. Still, police are not ruling out the possibility of a connection, Barrick said.
Two suspects arrested last week are believed to be connected to these previous assaults. One of the suspects is cooperating with officials' efforts to find others who may be involved.
The series of recent incidents has attracted the concern of University officials.
"There's been a spate of incidents involving aggression and assault and the city is working very diligently in dealing with them," Associate Dean of Students Aaron Laushway said. "Students need to be ever so careful not to be alone or in small numbers or in dark places."
Barrick also urged students to take extra caution not to walk alone, particularly at night, and to always have a cell phone available. He added that a rise in crime during the summer is normal because high school students have more free time and the presence of fewer University students means that students walk alone more frequently.
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