The Oberlin Review
<< Front page News November 12, 2004

Student assaulted at Keep

On Friday, Nov. 5 at approximately 11:30 p.m., an assault on a male student took place in Keep Co-op. According to a report by the Oberlin College Safety and Security Office, the student was attacked in his room after inviting in three non-students.

Sources within Keep Co-op who wish to remain anonymous claim that the incident was drug-related.

“The men propositioned him for marijuana and he brought them back to his room,” stated one source.

According to residents, that was when the situation began to deteriorate. “[The victim] left two of them outside in the hallway and brought one into his room. [The victim] showed them some marijuana and asked to see the money. The assailant became upset and acted as if he was going to leave,” one resident said.

It is at this point, according to sources, that the situation turned violent:

“When the assailant inside opened the door to leave, his friends ran into the room and they all proceeded to assault [the victim] and take his marijuana.”

There is concern within the Keep community that the investigation into the incident is being hampered by the suspected drug-related nature of the crime.

According to one resident, “Little police action can be filed because of the lack of details that can be given to the police without self-incrimination.”

A letter from Safety and Security Director Robert Jones posted throughout campus this week described the assailants as “town citizens in their late teens or early 20s.”

The letter also encourages students to “exercise caution when inviting strangers into your living space.”

Jones was unavailable for comment but according to his letter the matter has been turned over to the Oberlin Police Department.
 
 

   

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