Two women were assaulted in houses along Hopkins Avenue early Sunday by a man county police say they "strongly believe" is related to at least 12 previous sexual assaults and Peeping Tom incidents perpetrated downtown over the past year.
Maj. Kevin Davis, commander of Prince George's County Police District 1, said during a press conference yesterday that police have no strong evidence or leads in any of the cases. The only patterns emerging from the series of crimes, Davis said, are that all victims have been white, college-age women living in single-family homes downtown and the man has consistently been described as a white male in his 20s.
In the Sunday cases and in previous assault cases, the man has either cuddled with or kissed his victims while they are sleeping. Police have informally referred to the man as the "cuddler." The Sunday assaults also shared similarities in that the women assaulted had attended or hosted parties in the homes they were attacked in.
The first assault took place in the bedroom of the victim's boyfriend, where they had gone to sleep at about 2 a.m., police said. The victim reported that she awoke to a male she did not know spooning and kissing her on the cheek. He quickly walked away after she awoke, police said. Her boyfriend remained asleep.
On the same street, a second victim told police she went to bed at about 3 a.m. after hosting a modest-sized party with her housemates. At 6 a.m. she awoke to a man groping and fondling her while masturbating.
Davis said at the press conference that the man may have attended one or both parties and "blended in" with other students. The man then likely entered through unlocked doors to gain entry to the homes and bedrooms where his victims were located, police said.
A housemate and friend of the groping victim said in an interview yesterday that a party at their home was attended by "a small number of people" and said she is confident the suspect did not attend. The Diamondback is not publishing the name of the housemate to protect the identity of the victim.
When the victim woke up, the housemate said, she screamed and "kicked the crap out of him, and she was like, 'Who the hell are you?'"
"The police were asking her, 'Are you sure he wasn't at the party?'" the housemate said. "And she kept saying, 'Yes, I know who was at my party. I would know if this was a random guy; he wasn't hanging out at my house.'"
Both crimes on Hopkins were also similar for their brazenness. During the interview, the housemate said eight men had stayed the night after the party to avoid drinking and driving, some of whom were sleeping in the living room. Their presence apparently did not deter the suspect from entering the home, just as the presence of the other victim's boyfriend did not appear to keep the perpetrator away.
"It's scary - you feel violated," the housemate said. "You feel like, holy crap, someone came into my house and did this to one of my best friends."
Last semester, one student was raped and three more were sexually assaulted by a man police believe also committed a series of Peeping Tom crimes. In Sunday's crime, the man was described as being in his 20s, standing between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall, with dark eyes and hair, large eyebrows and was wearing a black wool jacket and dark pants during the incidents.
Davis said police aren't ruling out the possibility that the suspect is a student at the university.
Residents downtown said they were shaken after the incident and they hope police will catch the man involved soon.
"It's a serious issue that needs to be handled," said senior government and politics major Dan Andorsky, a neighbor of the groping victim. "Whatever they're doing isn't working," he said, noting the perpetrator hasn't been caught after three consecutive semesters of assaults.
"It's pretty scary; you think it would be safer here," said Elena Komarova, a junior mathematics major who is also a neighbor of the groping victim.
Davis said at the press conference that he wants students to know "we're very serious about stopping these assaults." He noted, however, that calling police right away is important to catching the suspect. In one of Sunday's incidents, the crime wasn't reported until 13 hours later, he said.
Davis added that he had plans to meet with the university about the incidents yesterday.
University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said that at that meeting, police administration agreed with county police to coordinate prevention efforts downtown.
"Both agencies are increasing patrols in the area. That'll be great, but the likelihood - it's difficult to catch someone in the act," he said. University Police will also "conduct an operation this Wednesday with Prince George's and our [officers and] ... flood the city with officers and go door to door with an education effort."
Reporter Kyle Goon and editor Kevin Litten contributed to this report. woodhousedbk@gmail.com
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