Pittsburgh police investigating sexual assault near Pitt campus

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police are investigating a sex assault near the University of Pittsburgh campus. It’s the second assault on or near the university in just 10 days.

Police say it happened in the early morning hours of Saturday. Pitt students told Channel 11 it’s a concern, but overall, they feel safe.

“I mean, as a freshman, that’s kind of a little concerning because we still don’t really know our way around yet,” freshman Lauren Gilbert said.

The investigation in this case started on North Dithridge Street, about a 10-minute walk from the spot of an assault earlier this month near Soldiers and Sailors.

police describe the assailant as a “college age Asian male.” He’s 5 feet, 7 or 8 inches tall and about 140 lbs. He was wearing a button-up red “Hawaiian style” shirt and khaki shorts, and identified himself as “Beck.”

Despite a second assault investigation, other Pitt students say they feel mostly safe.

“I feel like Pitt definitely has the resources to help people who have gone through that and there are always cops at night, so I think there are measures to prevent it from happening,” freshman Smita Venkatesan said.

“They have those blue light things. So, if anything happens, we have some safety measures and it’d be OK,” freshman Tanvi Depesh said.

Each said they also appreciate the university’s communication with students.

“I like how Pitt’s keeping us up to date with what’s going on by emailing us about what happened. I feel like it makes us feel safe and allows us to keep an eye open, I guess,” freshman Hira Kahn said.

If you have any information regarding the incident, you can call Pittsburgh police at 412-255-2827 or University police at 412-624-2121.

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