[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]The third sexual assault of the semester by a stranger near the University of Wisconsin campus occurred early Saturday morning near the intersection of Langdon Street and North Carroll Street, and the suspect is still at large.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the victim was a UW student, and the incident occurred on the 500 block of North Carroll Street — less than a block away from the first attempted sexual assault this semester.

A report from the Madison Police Department said a stranger abducted the victim around 3 a.m. and took her to a separate location where she was sexually assaulted. After the assault, the woman was released, the police report said.

"The first thought that occurred to me when I heard of this was, 'I can't believe there's another one this semester,'" Verveer said. "I am very frightened and personally upset and angry about this — it's just outrageous that this is happening, and it's absolutely tragic."

According to Verveer, MPD has been pouring "tremendous resources" into solving campus-area sexual assault since the beginning of the semester and, so far, police have identified suspects in two of the four cases, which include one additional case of attempted sexual assault.

MPD employs several sensitive crime detectives who have already been working on the most recent case since Saturday, Verveer added.

With two weeks left in the semester, Verveer cautioned students to watch out for their safety around campus, especially with the added stress of final exams.

"Not that there's any good time for this to occur, but this is the worst time with everyone stressed out enough with their academic work," Verveer said. "I would just beg folks to think of their own personal safety given what happened this weekend."

However, members of neighborhood watch projects remain optimistic that their efforts are helping the community as a whole. Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity President Drew Willert, who spearheaded the Langdon neighborhood watch among the UW Greek community, said Saturday's incident was "unfortunate," but still maintained the initiative has been successful in promoting awareness.

City officials and members of the campus and Greek community are scheduled to engage in a discussion today to decide how Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's $100,000 safety initiative will be spent. Verveer said the most recent campus-area sexual assault will "cast a shadow" on the discussion and further the call of action to city officials.

Willert said that at the meeting he hopes to collaborate efforts and ideas with other community members to improve the serious situation of assaults on campus. The Greek community may receive a few hundred dollars from the mayor's initiative to provide supplies and make Langdon Street volunteers "more visible," Willert added.

"I'll be the first to admit [the Greek neighborhood watch] needs improvements … but overall, it went pretty well this semester," Willert said. "One hope we have for tomorrow's meeting — other than money — is to see who else is out there and who is trying to help us … so we can better direct our resources."

The Madison Police Department did not return phone calls seeking comment as of press time.