Gang rape of UC Santa Barbara student is second in two months

University police have increased patrols at UC Santa Barbara and in the surrounding neighborhood after a woman was gang raped in the middle of the night over the weekend, authorities said Monday.

The woman was attacked by three men sometime between 11 p.m. Saturday and 4 a.m. Sunday in Isla Vista, a densely populated unincorporated community of apartments next to the college campus.

The woman then went home and reported the rape to her roommate and authorities. Sheriff’s deputies searched the area but haven’t made any arrests.

It’s the second gang rape of a UCSB student in the area in two months. In the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 18, an 18-year-old student was raped by two men and a male juvenile next to the campus, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department reported. Deputies arrested three people in connection with that incident.

Campus police have reminded students to walk in pairs and that police can escort students to their cars on or off campus.

“We never say no to anybody,” said university police Sgt. Robert Romero.

Authorities told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that earlier on Saturday there had been another report of sexual assault in Isla Vista when a woman said she was attacked around 1:30 a.m. outside a party.

joseph.serna@latimes.com
Twitter: @josephserna