Seattle, WA. – A former University of Washington student believes the person who broke into a home in the U-District over the weekend and assaulted a student is the same person who targeted her home multiple times this year.
KIRO 7 is not sharing this former student’s identity, but when she saw the photos of the alleged suspect, she felt the similarities were there.
“But when I heard on Sunday about what had happened, I was just like, ‘Wow! This is just terrible,’” the former student said.
She tells KIRO 7 he tried to break into her home twice. Once toward the end of May, then again in July almost exactly two months later. She says the first time this happened was on May 27, the person tried to break in multiple times within the span of a few hours. She says when this person tried to reach for the window, she yelled at the person to leave.
“But you can tell from the video he was like reaching towards one of our porch windows. And I was watching that live and that’s when I shouted. I didn’t know whether it was secure or not,” she said.
“But since that May incident, all of my roommates and I slept with our doors locked,” She said.
They allege the person shrugged it off, then fled. Then in July, she says the same guy came back, going through their mailbox, as well as trying to get through the windows of the house.
“And it was just this man checking all of our doors. Like multiple times, and looking through the windows and stuff,” She said.
She says the whole experience had her concerned for her and her roommates’ safety. They also believe this alleged prowler has also targeted other homes in the U-District.
“It just seemed like he was adamant about our house and us being 15 young girls living in the same house together, that was very creepy to us,” she said.
They tell KIRO 7 they have filed a police report over the July incident, but have not heard back from police. Seattle Police could not confirm if the prowler on Sunday is the same guy, but they tell KIRO7 people who believe he is have sent more photos and videos to them.
“At least to me, it’s obvious that it’s connected,” the former student said.
KIRO 7 also reached out to the University of Washington about what plans they have to address safety. A spokesperson sent this statement:
“UWPD remains in regular contact with Seattle PD regarding the response to recent violence in the U District, and we are grateful that students living in the area are helping police in identifying the suspect in the home invasion sexual assault that occurred Sunday morning. Sally Clark, our interim Vice President for Campus Community Safety, met Tuesday night with chapter presidents in the Greek system to hear from them directly about their concerns and share information about the UW’s response and SPD’s efforts. Again, we are grateful for SPD’s response and emphasis patrols in the area and we are hopeful that the suspect will be found as soon as possible.”
While the former student has moved out of the neighborhood, they worry about everyone’s safety.
“I definitely think that it’s scary to be a woman in the U-District right now,” she said.
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