Police reported on Monday that a 21-year-old female was sexually assaulted while walking downtown over the weekend, bringing another incident in the area that has seen an increase in crime.

According to a report from the Madison Police Department, the victim was assaulted at 4:14 a.m. Saturday morning.

“The victim was walking along the 300 block of North Frances Street near Conklin Place when a man ran up and groped her from behind,” MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said.

DeSpain said the victim screamed, causing the stranger to run away.

According to the report, the suspect was described as a Hispanic male aged 20 to 30, 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 8 inches, 150 to 180 pounds, and “chubby” with short black hair. The report also said the man was wearing a long-sleeve, button-up blue plaid shirt and blue jeans.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said he was horrified when he heard the report of the attempted sexual assault and that he was disturbed by the time at which it occurred. He said sexual assault is a problem in that area of campus.

Verveer said Frances Street is normally heavily patrolled by police as part of the Downtown Campus Initiative, which extends police officers’ working hours to patrol busy areas of campus on weekends, like Ian’s Pizza, located near the place of assault.

“Madison police are constantly patrolling that area,” Verveer said. “There were still many police officers working while the incident occurred, but the extra police shifts in that area typically end around 4:00 am, prior to the incident.”

Verveer said there could always be more police officers working at all times of the day. He said he intends on having a conversation with the MPD regarding whether or not this is a possibility.