Published 2011-10-04T18:36:00Z”/>
Kjerstin Wood
Two female Chico State students were attacked with pepper spray while walking late at night last week in the south-campus area, police say.
One attack occurred on West Fifth and Flume streets and the other on West Eighth and Hazel streets. Both victims reported being pepper sprayed by a white male who is in his early 20s and approximately 6 feet tall, Chico police Sgt. Rob Merrifield said.
Police are treating these cases as assaults and attempted kidnapping, Merrifield said. The suspect attacked both women after exiting the passenger door of a black sedan, similar to a Lexus or a BMW.
The windows were very tinted or “murdered out,” said the second victim, a sophomore communications major.
“People heard me screaming,” she said.
One group of people saw her running away from the attacker and into her house, however they turned around and went back inside their own home, she said.
Normally pepper spray chokes and incapacitates a person, but the victim had been exposed to pepper spray before and knew what the effects were, she said. Because of that past experience the spray did not inhibit her breathing.
“He grabbed me and I thought he was going to put me in the car,” she said.
She then began kicking and screaming to deter the attacker and was able to run into her home just around the corner.
The vehicle was seen circling the area from 11 p.m. to the early morning hours prior to the attack on West Eighth and Hazel streets, said a witness, a junior sociology major.
“It was stalking my neighborhood,” the witness said. “We haven’t seen the vehicle since then.”
In both cases the women were able to get away, after fighting back and yelling ,and one was even able to dial 9-1-1, according to a press release from the Chico Police Department.
The first attack occurred Sept. 18. In this incident the attacker sprayed his victim with pepper spray. In the second attack on Sept. 25 the victim was grabbed and then knocked to the ground while fighting back.
In August, there were 32 incidents of misdemeanor assault, 16 felony assaults, two kidnappings, two sexual assaults and one rape, according to the monthly statistics report from the Chico Police Department.
Chico has always seemed pretty safe, but sticking to the main streets and biking rather than walking are ways people can protect themselves at night, said Alisa Smith, a junior liberal studies major.
Smith decided not to ride her bike to her Monday and Wednesday night classes last week, she said.
“I drove because I was scared by the attacks,” Smith said.
As of Monday, no new information or incidents had been reported to the police department.
The second victim had a meeting with University Police Thursday, where she shared information about her case that Chico Police Department was not able to give to University Police.
“They were very concerned and helpful,” the woman said. They also told her these attacks are very out of the ordinary and that police want to do more prevention and defense programs.
University Police has several programs geared toward educating students on safety issues, including the Freshman Safe-Start program, according to the University Police website. All incoming freshmen must attend a Safe-Start training session, which includes information on general safety, sexual assault, hate crimes or incidents and an overview of available campus resources.
Police are encouraging everyone to not walk alone and to be aware of suspicious vehicles.
In both attacks the car was seen circling the area prior to the assaults, which occurred in dark areas without many witnesses.
If you have any information about these attacks or the vehicle described please contact the police department at 530-895-4911.
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<strong>Kjerstin Wood can be reached at</strong>
<em>[email protected]</em>
