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Attack between Stoke and Sawyer sends victim to hospital

By Amanda Beland

Staff Writer

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Published: Monday, November 2, 2009

Updated: Monday, November 2, 2009

A 21-year-old male UNH student was taken to the hospital after being assaulted late Saturday night on Ballard Street, between Sawyer and Stoke Halls.

 According to Sgt. Steven Lee of the UNH Police Department, the victim sustained significant injuries including damage to his face and upper torso, though Lee declined to comment on the exact injuries. The victim was rushed to the hospital but has since been released.

 The attack happened around 11:35 p.m. Saturday night when three unidentified assailants, one dressed in what looked like a banana or hot dog costume and two others dressed in dark-colored hoodies, attacked the victim for an unknown reason while bystanders walked by and watched. One bystander called 911.

 “I imagine with Wildcatessen right there, there were people,” said Lee in a phone interview after the attack.

 Lee said the attack was not only witnessed from the street, but from the surrounding dorm windows.

 Roommates Jacki Douglas and Courtney Parron, both freshmen and Sawyer Hall residents, live in a room that faces the location of the attack. Although Parron wasn’t in the room at the time, Douglas was and she said that she didn’t hear or see anything concerning the attack.

 “If we had, we would’ve come out obviously,” Douglas said. “People probably just thought it’s Halloween night, probably just a couple of guys messing around.”

 Parron hopes the bystanders that witnessed the attack, and did nothing, were misinformed.

 “I really hope that people who walked by were intoxicated or oblivious,” Parron said. “It’s scary.”

 After the attack, UNH Police issued a campus alert via email and text message in accordance with the Clery Act. The Clery Act, according to the police campus alert sent out Nov. 1, “requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses.” 

 After the campus alert, witnesses of the attack have come forward and talked with police. According to Lee, UNH police are continuing the investigation and are in the process of following leads on a couple of individuals.

 Anne Lawing, Dean of Students with Student and Academic Affairs, cited the importance of the campus alerts in identifying suspects and solving attacks like this one.

 “They’ve made an arrest in the September attack in front of Stoke partially because witnesses came forward after receiving these alerts and were able to give descriptions of the suspect, leading to an arrest,” Lawing said. “That’s the importance of the system.”

 If you or anyone you know witnessed this attack and have information that would be useful to the investigation, UNH Police ask that you contact them at 603-862-1427.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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