University police Friday arrested three suspects for sexual
assault that allegedly occurred in the Fir Grove building of the De
Neve on-campus housing complex Thursday morning, a spokeswoman
said. Police responded Thursday afternoon to a call that a rape had
taken place in the mid-morning hours of the day. After arriving on
the scene, police initially made no arrests, but three suspects
were listed in the UCPD’s crime log. After getting
“good cooperation” from the victim and witnesses,
police arrested three suspects within 24 hours of being contacted,
said UCPD spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein. The suspects were put into
custody following their arrest. All three suspects are juveniles,
Greenstein said. Therefore, little information about them can be
given out. None of the suspects are UCLA students, Greenstein said.
Police are not looking for any other suspects in the case. Upon
hearing about the arrest, students living on campus had different
reactions. “I hope they arrested the right people,”
said Kristen Jett, a second-year organismic biology, ecology and
evolution student who lives in the Evergreen building of De Neve.
Jett said she was not worried before she learned of the arrests
because she has, what she calls, an
“it-will-never-happen-to-me” complex. She said she was
surprised when she learned of the assault because “living at
UCLA is like being in a bubble,” and the recent event broke
her sense of security. Shabnam Jahanjiri, a first-year undeclared
student who lives in Hitch Suites, said she was also not worried
after hearing about the reported rape, because “it seemed
like an isolated incident.” Even so, Jahanjiri said it
“definitely told us that we should watch out,” and
added that she was glad for the victim that arrests were made.
Other students displayed feelings of stronger concern. “We
were pretty worried before, we took our names off our door and
wouldn’t go out at night alone,” said second-year
English student Jessica Tsukamoto, who lives in the Cedar building
of De Neve. Tsukamoto said she feels safer now that arrests have
been made, saying she can get back to focusing on studying because
“it takes a lot of worry off.” In the end she said this
incident was a learning experience. “The situation helped us
to become more aware of our surroundings,” Tsukamoto said.
Immediately after the report of the rape, students began to wonder
if they were safe in their own private space. “I just
don’t feel safe here anymore,” said Kimmi Greywal, a
second-year business economics student who lives in the Fir
building. “I feel safer in public places than I do in my own
home now.” “We’re all shocked and mad. This is
our home,” said Arisneh Ananin, a first-year math-economics
and political science student, who lives in the Fir building.
“For the first time all year, all of our doors are
shut.” The individual De Neve buildings do not have the
check-in desks other residence halls do. Non-residents can enter
the buildings anytime without identifying themselves if someone who
lives in the building lets them in. The UCPD still has a bulletin
posted on its Web site and throughout on-campus housing. The
bulletin asks students to: “¢bull; Not let individuals they do not
know into on-campus housing buildings. “¢bull; Lock their doors
when they are not in their room and when they go to sleep. “¢bull;
Contact housing officials or the UCPD, or dial 911 in an
emergency,when they see anyone they do not recognize. The bulletin
additionally said more specific information would be made available
once detectives complete their interviews with the victim and
others. Students living on the Hill said they would use extra
caution after the assault. “I’m being very cautious
about who I let into the dorm and I hope other people are
too,” said Kristin Gatfield, a first-year political science
student who lives in the Evergreen building of the De Neve complex.
Erin Yee, a first-year world arts and cultures student, said she is
taking extra caution and has taken her name tag off her dorm room
door. “I’m more aware of things around me. I’m
not paranoid, but worried,” she said.