The Cornell University Police Department on Tuesday reported two similar, yet apparently unrelated harassment incidents. Both involved female victims who said “an unidentified male approached them while they were walking and grabbed them unexpectedly,” according a CUPD crime alert emailed to the Cornell community.

Neither suspect has been apprehended, but the investigations into both incidents are continuing, according to CUPD Chief Kathy Zoner.

The suspect in the first incident, which occurred on Monday, Apr. 12, just south of campus, was described as a 5-foot, 6-inch white male. The second suspect, who apparently grabbed a female student near Sigma Delta Tau on Ridgewood Rd., was a white male estimated to be 6 feet, 6 inches tall.

“At this point, [the incidents] don’t appear related,” but it is unusual to encounter two with so many similarities in a short period of time, Zoner said.

In both incidents, the suspects grabbed the victims, but the victims escaped before the suspects revealed their intentions, Zoner said.

Although the two incidents are apparently unrelated, Zoner said CUPD decided to include both in a crime alert sent by e-mail to the Cornell community due to the similarity of the incidents.

Zoner did not know whether the victim in the Apr. 12 incident was a student, but she confirmed the victim in Tuesday’s incident was a female student. The victim was apparently returning to her SDT sorority after classes.

“As a sorority, everyone is really behind her and making sure she’s OK,” said a sister at SDT who is close to the victim but asked that her name not be published.
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