A man was arrested after he allegedly broke into one of the Hilgard Houses, university-owned residences, on Dec. 2.
Ashley Rowan, a 180-pound, 6-foot black male, was arrested after university police responded to a call about a prowler seen inside the UCLA residence on the 700 block of Hilgard Avenue.
After police responded to the original call, they found evidence of a burglary in an adjoining residence and expanded their search area. They found Rowan in a closet, holding contraband from a previous alleged burglary.
Rowan was arrested and charged with residential burglary, commercial burglary, receiving stolen property, and sexual battery, according to a police bulletin. Rowan posted bail after being charged and is currently out of police custody.
UCPD has issued a crime alert listing him as a “subject of interest” and asking anyone who sees him to contact the police.
Arianna Sauceda, a third-year political science student, lives in the residence that was broken in to. She said she was woken up that morning by the sound of police yelling.
“I woke up to the sound of police running down the hall and telling someone … to come out,” she said. “My roommate and I … found out that someone had actually come into the house and into someone’s room. They said he … had slept in the laundry room and had made his way into a neighboring girl’s room whose door was unlocked. He closed the door behind him and … touched her. She woke up and he walked out, they called the police, and then I guess they found him next door hiding in a closet,” Sauceda added.
Terry Brown, a detective with UCPD, said students should call the police if they see Rowan on campus.
“Since he’s out of custody and has been arrested for committing a burglary, if they see him, they should contact the police,” Brown said.
Though she could not comment on the exact nature of the police’s business with Rowan, whose court date has not been set yet, Brown said UCPD did want him to return to the station for further questioning.
“We made an arrest of a suspect, he was charged with those particular crimes, and he is currently out of custody. We will have to talk to him,” Brown said.
Brown also explained what the charge of sexual battery entails.
“(It is the) inappropriate touching of another person’s intimate body parts,” Brown said.
The victim, who requested that her name not be released because of her safety, said she vividly remembers the details of what happened that night.
“I wake up to this guy kneeling … and he’s touching me. I don’t say anything for what feels like forever, and then I say the only word that came out of my mouth: “˜Hey,’ in a stern voice. He stopped touching me and then he just stayed there. … He was just staring at me, and then he got up and walked toward the door. He didn’t run, didn’t quickly walk, he just walked to the door. Just before he left, he stared at me for a long time, then walked out and closed the door,” she said.
She informed her house coordinator of what had happened.
“I started freaking out and I didn’t want to call the cops. I was so scared ““ I didn’t want anyone to know that this person had touched me,” the victim said. “(My house coordinator) convinced me it was the right thing to do, that he could do this to someone else.”
Moments later, police arrived. After arresting Rowan, the victim had to come back and face him directly.
“They apprehended him and asked me to identify him, and it was the same person who had touched me,” the victim said.
Rick Wan, the assistant director for the Office of Residential Life, said his department is taking steps to inform students about the situation. After printing and distributing the bulletin released by UCPD, Hilgard resident assistants were asked to take additional safety precautions.
“The Hilgard House RAs … check in with everybody and do additional rounds in the building each evening,” Wan said.
He said his department is also urging students to take safety precautions seriously.
“We are trying to be proactive as well as reactive to the incident. (We’re) encouraging people to close their windows when they aren’t home or sleeping, and not to provide easy access for people entering the building,” Wan said.
He added that students should be vigilant about safety outside of the home as well.
“(Students should) contact the police as soon as they think something is going on, travel in groups, (and) let people know where they are going and when they (will) return,” he said.
“(Students should) not let strangers into their space or their homes, and (should) just be diligent about their own personal surroundings, what’s around them and where they’re at,” Wan added.
Sauceda said she and her fellow residents want to see changes in their area.
“We really want Hilgard to be a lot safer. We see sorority houses next door that have bars and security systems, and we don’t have any of that,” Sauceda said.
Sauceda said she hopes this incident incites university housing to take a closer look at the security on its residences.
“I think this security breach, this intruder, should really make housing think about creating a better security system for places like Hilgard, houses that sort of get neglected. We need security too,” Sauceda said.