Police Seek Man Who Attacked Teen Girl in School Restroom

Police on Friday continued to search for a man who reportedly attacked a Glendale High School girl in a campus restroom this week.

The 15-year-old freshman was shaken but not seriously hurt, police said.

The attack occurred about 11:25 a.m. Thursday during the break between third- and fourth-period classes when the student went alone into a girls’ restroom and found the man inside, school officials said. They would not confirm if the assailant had a weapon.

“He apparently grabbed her and he may have had an object. We don’t even know what--if anything--it was,” Principal Mike Livingston said. “She was not sexually assaulted in any way.”

The man hit the girl with his fist on her right side, police said. She screamed and the man fled.

The student, whose name was not released, was scratched on the neck, and went to a nearby classroom and reported the attack to a teacher. She was taken to the school health office and treated. School officials said that because the injury was minor, they did not call paramedics.

Security guards, school administrators and two Glendale police officers assigned full time to the campus searched the school’s bungalow area where the attack occurred, but could not find the assailant. Administrators locked down that part of the campus, asking teachers to keep students inside until a search was completed of the bungalows, located near Colorado Boulevard in a remote section of the 25-acre campus.

The girl--who was interviewed at her home Friday by Glendale police--described her assailant as a white male about 18 years old, with medium-length brown hair, 5 feet 10 and 170 pounds.

School officials said they did not know if he was a student or an intruder. With an enrollment of about 3,500 students at Glendale High, it would be possible for the girl not to know him even if he were a student there, officials said.

“There are big fences around the school. We’re not ruling out that it was a student,” Livingston said. “We’re taking the incident seriously. Students should be safe when they come to school.”

Sitting outside on the lawn in front of the campus Friday, students had mixed emotions about the incident. Some were fearful. But most said it was unexpected, given that Glendale High is a quiet campus in a suburban neighborhood.

“We feel the campus is safe,” said Hector Solis, 15, who had just heard about the attack.

Student Veronica Barriga, 16, agreed.

“I feel the campus is safe--it could happen anywhere,” she said. “It’s probably someone from off campus. It is kind of a shock. Everyone is now being checked for hall passes.”

One 15-year-old girl said she was frightened. “I don’t feel safe anymore,” she said. “I feel like I have to have a friend near me.”