UCI Student Assaulted in Apartment

A graduate student was assaulted in her campus apartment early Monday in an attack that remains under investigation, university police said.

The woman was assaulted about 1 a.m. by someone who broke into her apartment, said UC Irvine Assistant Police Chief Dennis Powers. The victim was treated at Irvine Medical Center and released.

Powers said campus police investigators have leads in the case, but he declined to elaborate. It is unclear whether the assailant was known to the victim, who lives alone in a graduate student housing complex.

“What we’re doing in that particular community is letting them know that someone has been assaulted and telling them to use caution,” Powers said.

Assaults are unusual on the campus of 35,000, Powers said.

The campus housing office has been notified of the attack so staff members can answer questions from student residents at the apartment complex, he said.