July 28, 2005

Campus Safety Alert Southern Illinois University Carbondale July 28, 2005

Southern Illinois University Carbondale police are searching for a suspect who attacked a 21-year-old female student and stole her car on Wednesday, July 27.

The victim told police that she left Morris Library at 11:30 p.m. and walked to her car, parked in Lot 6 just north of the library. As she sat down in the driver’s seat and began to close the door, a man forced the door open, grabbed the victim by the neck and pushed her into the passenger seat. The assailant grabbed the woman’s keys and pushed her into the back seat. When he realized the victim had a second set of keys, he jumped on top of the woman and tried to wrestle the keys away from her. The victim bit the suspect’s finger, forcing him to shift his weight and allowing the woman to escape the car through a back door. The suspect then drove off in the vehicle.

Police found the woman’s car this afternoon (July 28) in Carbondale, but are still searching for the suspect. The victim described him as African-American, stocky build, about 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds. The assailant had short black hair, was clean-shaven and was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts.

The victim was treated at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale and released.

Anyone with any information should call the SIUC Department of Public Safety at 618/453-2381 or the Crime Stopper Line at 618/549-COPS.