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Police seek 5 attackers of UWP student
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UW–Platteville police are looking for five white men suspected in a student assault late Saturday.

A female UWP student was jogging on the walking path north of Bridgeway Commons around 11:15 p.m. when she saw five men wearing dark hoodies standing at the bridge.

The five men ran after her, pushed her down to the ground, and began pulling at her clothing, according to UWP officials.

The student’s gray sweatshirt and T-shirt were torn off before one of the men in the group told the others to stop and started pulling the other men off her, UWP officials said. The student was uninjured other than hitting the back of her head, according to UWP officials.

The five men are described as about 5-foot-8, with three of the men described as “skinny,” and the other two had “average build.” None of the five men had facial hair or distinguishing marks, scars or tattoos, and all five were wearing black long-sleeved hoodies and dark pants.

One of the five was kneed in the right cheek, according to the victim, and therefore may have a bruise or mark.

UW–Platteville Chancellor Dennis Shields sent an email to UWP students, faculty and staff Monday night listing UWP security measures already in place, including:

•    The SafeWalk program, in which UWP students or staff can have a UWP police officer or student police employee walk the person to and from his or her destination.
•    40 emergency call boxes located around the university linked directly to police radio.
•    Access-controlled doors in residence halls.
•    Video surveillance cameras in Rountree Commons and Bridgeway Commons.
•    UWP’s text alert service, which has more than 7,000 people signed up.
•    A safety informational campaign, launched today.

Shields’ email said UW–Platteville started “bystander interventional awareness” and safety informational campaigns Monday.

Saturday night’s attack has at least one similarity to a reported attack of a 20-year-old Platteville man on West Mound Road Labor Day evening. Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley, whose department is investigating that incident, said a sheriff’s detective has been in contact with UW–Platteville police about the Saturday incident.

The 20-year-old man reported he had been accosted by a Ford F-150 extended-cab pickup truck with five masked men, with one of them stabbing him, Labor Day around 8 p.m. The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department is investigating that incident.

Anyone who finds a gray sweatshirt or T-shirt in the area of Bridgeway Commons, or has additional information, is asked to call UWP police, 342-1584, or Platteville police, 348-2313.