News

Alleged attack on State

An alleged sexual assault at the intersection of North Henry Street and State Street has led city police to search for multiple suspects who have been implicated in the crime.

According to a Madison Police Department press release, the alleged assault occurred around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, when a 20-year-old female was attacked by a group of five or six males.

"She was walking at 3:30 [a.m.], when a group of males were verbally harassing her from behind," MPD Public Information Officer Mike Hanson said. "She came to a darker area [on State Street], and they surrounded her, where they grabbed her breasts and fondled her genital area."

Hanson said the woman tried to scream, but one of the people in the group covered her mouth.

After the assault, all members of the group fled on foot, Hanson said; the woman then ran away and contacted the police dispatcher.

The woman could not identify all members of the group, but police are searching for two suspects for whom she provided descriptions.

According to the press release, one of the suspects is a white male, with light-brown "shaggy" hair. The male was approximately 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall, in his early 20s, and was wearing a vertical pinstriped button-down shirt.

The other suspect is a shorter, stocky, white male in his early 20s with short or possibly shaved hair.

Hanson did not know if any of the people involved in the alleged assault were students or affiliated with the University of Wisconsin.

According to Hanson, the "disturbing" factor of the assault is the incident's location, because State Street generally has pedestrian traffic, even at night.

"State Street, usually, is a populated street," he added. "And it happened with a group of individuals; those individuals exercised horrible judgment to either partake or witness in the assault."

Madison Police officers said they encourage anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 266-6014.