As police investigate a series of leads into the weekend assault of an MSU student in her East Lansing home, officials are reminding residents to keep up their guards.
While the investigation is in preliminary stages, East Lansing police Lt. Kim Johnson said the department has received several leads.
"We have a few leads that came in from the media reports, but no leads that have uncovered anything," Johnson said. "They're all leads but nothing that stands out right now."
The attack occurred 8 a.m. Friday on Linden Street between John R. Street and Wayland Avenue. The victim, a communication senior, awoke to an intruder, armed with a knife, covering her mouth with his hand to keep her from screaming.
As she struggled with her attacker and bit his hand, her roommates ran into her room and attempted to stop him. The suspect ran down the stairs and outside the back door into the morning snow.
To avoid home invasion, city officials say students should always keep their doors locked and post signs warning that the home is protected by a security system. If the precautions don't keep intruders out, Johnson said screaming and drawing attention to yourself will alert neighbors to danger.
"I know when you're young you think you can't be hurt, but you have to remember to lock your doors," East Lansing Councilmember Beverly Baten said.
Even if police catch the person responsible for Friday's attack, "there's probably going to be another one, five or 10 more," she said.
Baten, who has lived in the community for 36 years, said she has seen similar crimes.
Despite the attack, Baten said she's confident the city is safe and police will find the man responsible for the assault.
Similar cases of assaults have occurred in the same area in recent years, and Johnson said police are investigating possible links among the cases.
A woman woke up to a man with a knife last May on the 100 block of Kedzie Street and a sexual assault with a knife was committed against a woman in May 2000 on the 400 block of Ann Street.
Neither case was solved.
The three attacks took place within a mile radius of each other. Johnson said there isn't anything particular about the area that would lure attackers.
"We don't have a clue if they're related or not," Johnson said. "Anytime we see some things like that we try to see if there are any similarities and put things together."
Although similarities exist in the cases, Johnson said the police treat each one differently. He said police never give up solving a case, but "this is a little more serious crime, so we don't put any time period on it but the sooner the better."
East Lansing police were at the scene of Friday's attack within minutes, but were unable to apprehend the suspect despite a search.
They still are searching for the man, who the women describe as a white male in his mid-20s, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8 with a thin build, shaggy jaw-length blond hair and a bite mark on his hand from Friday's incident. At the time of the attack he was wearing a red cap, gray sweat pants and a zip-up sweatshirt.
The roommates and the victim couldn't describe the man's face because they say he covered it throughout the attack. They said he didn't speak during the attack.
Some students, including Emily Glassburn, a labor relations and human resources graduate student, said it would be hard for East Lansing officials to prevent attacks because of the size of the city and the more than 40,000 students who attend MSU.
Glassburn, who lives in an East Lansing apartment, said the city should consider offering free self-defense classes.
"I don't feel safe now," she said. "I feel safer in my apartment because we have it where they have to buzz you in."
Kasper Volk, a supply chain management senior who lives in Lansing, said he's surprised to learn of the attack because he didn't expect it to happen in the area.
"I feel safe, but I'm not a woman," he said. "I'm not saying that's how it should be, but yes - that's how it is."
Chad Previch can be reached previchc@msu.edu.
