Sean McMinn
smcminn@mustangdaily.net
The Cal Poly University Police Department is working to track down the identity of a man who allegedly attempted to rob a visitor to the Cal Poly campus at knifepoint early Thursday morning.
The suspect, who police said appeared to be in his mid-20s, allegedly approached the visitor, who was walking to his car in the Village Drive parking structure. The suspect then demanded all his possessions, according to police. When the man refused, the suspect slashed at him with a knife, cutting the victim’s shirt and leaving a scratch on his chest, University Police Department (UPD) chief George Hughes said.
After a brief struggle, the suspect ran toward the entrance of the third floor inside the parking structure, Hughes said. The victim said he followed the man and last saw him running toward Truckee Road, away from the Poly Canyon Village apartments, according to Hughes.
The search for the suspect is a multi-organization effort between UPD, San Luis Obispo police, as well as other local law enforcement agencies. Hughes said the victim has agreed to work with a sketch artist to render a picture of the suspect, which could aid authorities in finding the alleged attacker.
“This person actually got a pretty good description of the suspect,” Hughes said. “A lot of times we don’t have a good description to work with.”
Hughes said based on the victim’s description of the suspect, police are investigating homeless individuals in the area who may match physical characteristics of the alleged attacker. There are no cameras in the vicinity of the parking lot where the alleged attack occurred, Hughes said, but police are working to review footage from neighboring spaces on campus.
University police became aware of the alleged attack when officers responded to a call at approximately 12:45 a.m. on Thursday, about 30 minutes after the incident reportedly occurred. The responding officers notified an on-call sergeant, commander Lori Hashim, Hughes and University Housing officials, Hughes said. Police also called paramedics after they learned the suspect allegedly wounded the victim with a knife, but the victim refused medical treatment, Hughes said.
After being notified of the situation, Hughes and Hashim decided to send text messages and email safety alerts to the campus. The emails and text messages reached students at 3 a.m., more than two hours after police responded to the call.
The time delay was the result of the amount of time it took officers to notify Hughes and Hashim of the alleged attack, Hughes said.
“I wish we had gotten it out a little earlier,” Hughes said. “But as soon as (Hashim) and I knew, we decided to put out the timely warning.”
Though the victim was not a Cal Poly student and did not live in the Poly Canyon Village apartments, University Housing officials sent a message to students in the hours after the attack.
University Housing, which provides on-campus living for approximately 7,000 students, sent an email to everyone living on campus informing them of the incident and providing them with 11 safety tips. Among those, University Housing recommended self-defense courses through the Student Life and Leadership Safer program.
These basic tips also included having keys and cell phones ready as students approach their cars in a parking structure. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice website, more than 10 percent of property crimes in the country occur in parking structures or garages.
There have been no previous reports regarding suspicious activity in the Village Drive structure, Hughes said. But nationwide, the Bureau of Justice reported an average of 2 million property crimes per year in parking structures between 2004 and 2008.
“I think San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly always presents as being a very safe community,” director of housing and residential life Carole Schaffer said. “But we always have to remember our basic tips on safety.”
Police describe the suspect as approximately six feet tall with a very thin build and a sunken face. The victim reported the alleged attacker was wearing a gray sweatshirt-style jacket with a hood and ripped jeans.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at (805) 756-2281.
Victoria Billings and Holly Dickson contributed to this article.