Santa Rosa Junior College reviewing security after reported rape

Police on Thursday were seeking leads in a brazen attack and rape reported by a Santa Rosa Junior College student who said an unknown masked man assaulted her in a school bathroom during the first week of fall semester classes.

SRJC President Frank Chong said the alarming incident has launched a campuswide analysis of security and safety measures, particularly for the many students on campus for night classes and activities. The college will consider changes like additional lighting and is asking all staff to be alert for suspicious people, he said.

“The Santa Rosa Junior College is a very safe campus; however, we are an open campus,” Chong said. “I would say to our students to have a heightened sense of your surroundings, report any suspicious activity and that there is power in numbers.”

Interim Police Chief Robert Brownlee said the college already has boosted patrols by police, community service officers and cadets, pulling many people in on overtime in response to the attack. He called it a rare crime for the campus.

“We definitely are putting more boots on the ground; we are keeping a closer eye at bathrooms and other isolated areas,” Brownlee said.

The investigation has been somewhat challenged because police did not learn about the rape until five days after it reportedly occurred.

Medical staff at Sutter Hospital contacted SRJC police Tuesday afternoon to report the crime, which the female student divulged during an appointment for an unrelated health matter, Brownlee said. Brownlee said he didn’t know why she didn’t immediately report the attack.

However, it is widely known that victims of sexual assault often do not report the crime. About 67 percent of sexual assaults in 2014 were not reported to law enforcement, according to the Justice Department’s National Crime Victimization Survey.

Students are even less likely to report rape or sexual assault, with 80 percent telling Justice Department researchers they did not report the crime.

Brownlee said the student was interviewed by an officer and sergeant. They contacted Verity, a nonprofit organization that operates Sonoma County’s rape crisis center, to arrange for a counselor to meet with her and enlisted the Santa Rosa Police Department’s sexual assault and domestic violence investigations team, which is now leading the inquiry.

At about 9 p.m. Aug. 20, police said, the student finished an evening class then walked into a first-floor bathroom at Barnett Hall, in the center of the Santa Rosa campus on Mendocino Avenue. Barnett Hall is an open-air-style building with classroom doors and the bathroom door on the outside.

She was confronted by a masked man who pushed her against a wall and sexually assaulted her, police said. Then the man left.

Santa Rosa Police Lt. Mike Lazzarini, who supervises the investigation teams, said they have only a vague description of the man. He stands about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a stocky build and is possibly white. He was wearing a black long-sleeve shirt and black pants.

Lazzarini said that most sexual assault cases involve people who know each other, and cases involving strangers are rare, although they do occur.

The door to the Barnett Hall women’s restroom where the alleged assault occurred opens up to an inner courtyard, as do the hall’s classrooms. Just inside the restroom are two interior tile walls that block the view of the stalls and sink area.

On Thursday afternoon, a couple of students had arrived early for a pre-algebra class.

Jenni Owens, 48, of Santa Rosa said she heard about the assault on the radio, but hadn’t realized it occurred right outside her classroom. She said she’s often taken night classes and has never felt unsafe. She said she tries to be aware of her surroundings, avoiding such things as wearing headphones.

“I just walked into that same bathroom and thought, ‘Why didn’t I bring my cellphone just in case?’?” she said.

Owens pointed out that the campus has a lot of blind corners and dark areas.

Another student, 19-year-old Ariella Zepeda of Rohnert Park, said she hadn’t heard about the assault. She said she does not feel vulnerable.

“I walk around with a Taser, so I’m not worried,” she said.

Around the corner from the bathroom, longtime SRJC custodian Dennis Barella said 9 p.m. is generally a busy time at Barnett Hall, with students getting out of class and running to the bathroom. He said his shift ends late at night. He’s watchful, but things do get past him, such as graffiti.

In 2009, a SRJC employee survived a brutal sexual assault from an unknown man who attacked her as she worked in a back room of Burbank Auditorium. The case remains unsolved.

Lazzarini said investigators were examining that case and other sexual assault reports to identify any similarities.

Brownlee said his staff is working with the Santa Rosa detectives and examining footage from campus surveillance cameras to look for any leads.

Students and staff were alerted to the attack Wednesday.

Chong said he spoke with City Councilman Tom Schwedhelm, a college trustee and former chief of the Santa Rosa Police Department, on Wednesday and that he would discuss safety concerns Thursday with current Chief Hank Schreeder.

He said school staff are brainstorming a broad range of potential changes to improve safety, from adding cameras to trimming back vegetation.

“We’re trying to be strategic and look at areas that are more isolated,” Chong said. “We want students to see police on campus when classes let out at night.”

Lazzarini asked that if anyone saw “anything abnormal on Thursday (Aug. 20) around 9 o’clock to call us” on the Police Department’s tip line at 543-4040.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.