2nd rape victim near UC Santa Barbara was city college student
Just hours before a UC Santa Barbara woman was gang raped near campus, a city college student reported being sexually assaulted in the area, an official said Tuesday.
The first incident occurred Saturday night and was reported by a Santa Barbara City College student who said she was attacked by an unidentified man, said Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kelly Hoover.
Authorities said it was unclear if the rape was connected to an incident hours later, when a 19-year-old UC Santa Barbara student was gang raped by three men as she walked toward apartments in Isla Vista.
The gang rape allegedly occurred sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Sunday in the densely populated unincorporated community next to campus.
The woman went home and reported the rape to her roommate and authorities. Sheriff’s deputies searched the area but did not make any arrests. University police who patrol Isla Vista will be more visible in coming days, officials said.
A witness reported seeing the woman walking north alone between midnight and 12:30 a.m. on a stretch of Embarcadero del Mar near Segovia Road between the town’s business and residential districts. The woman was not sure where the men attacked her and could provide only a vague description, officials said.
Sunday’s was the second reported 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. Deputies arrested three people in connection with that incident.
Anyone with information about either case can report tips anonymously to (805) 681-4171.
Twitter: @josephserna
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