The University Police Department is investigating a series of complaints from women near campus that a man in a white compact lured them to his car to watch him masturbate, UPD Director Dolores Stafford said.

UPD also nabbed eight more men for indecent exposure in Marvin Center bathrooms as part of a two-year undercover investigation, and continue to look for a man who attacked a student near New Hall.

Robbery, 24th and H streets

A female student was attacked and robbed while walking on the corner of 24th and H streets March 1, Stafford said.

The suspect approached the woman and displayed a metal pole and demanded that she hand over her belongings at about 3 a.m. The suspect threatened to strike the woman if she did not comply, Stafford said.

The student gave up her belongings, which included cash and a credit card. She was unharmed, Stafford said.

The suspect fled on H Street toward the Watergate complex, entered a car and left the area, Stafford said.

The suspect is described as a black male, 27-35 years old, approximately 5-feet 7-inches and 145 pounds. He has short black hair, brown eyes and was wearing blue jeans and a blue and red shirt.

Indecent exposure, Marvin Center bathrooms

University Police apprehended eight men for indecent exposure in
Marvin Center bathrooms Feb. 28 as part of an ongoing undercover operation, Stafford said.

The eight men were involved in four separate incidents in the men’s bathrooms on different floors of the Marvin Center, she said.

Any of the men who were not members of the GW community were barred from campus, Stafford said. Stafford declined to say whether any of the men were students or employees.

UPD began periodic patrolling of Marvin Center bathrooms undercover in late 1999, Stafford said.

“We are now patrolling (the bathrooms) on a more consistent basis,” Stafford said.

Indecent exposure, various locations

UPD is also investigating two separate reports of indecent exposure after two women said they were led to a car by a man who was masturbating.

Stafford said the reports might be connected to another complaint from a GW student in early February.

A woman, who is not a member of the GW community, was walking on the 2100 block of Pennsylvania Avenue Feb. 27 when a male driver pulled over and flagged her attention. When the woman approached the car, she saw the man was masturbating, Stafford said.

Another woman was walking near the intersection of 21st and G streets when a male pulled over and asked her directions to New York Avenue March 2. When the woman then approached the vehicle she saw the male “groping himself through his pants,” Stafford said.

“We believe the two incidents may be related,” Stafford said.

A similar incident took place near the intersection of 22nd and L streets Feb. 11.

A man in a white compact car pulled over to ask a female student directions to New York Avenue. When the woman approached the car, the male grabbed her and forced her to see him masturbating, Stafford said, according to a Feb. 22 Hatchet article.

Bomb threat, medical building

University Police found no evidence of a bomb when they responded to a threat phoned in to the Medical Faculty Associates building on 22nd and I streets March 5, Stafford said.

An employee in the building, which is connected to Student Health and the Ambulatory Care Center, called UPD and reported that they had received a threatening phone call at about 6 p.m., Stafford said.

“The caller said that `It wouldn’t be bad to blow up the building,'” Stafford said. “It was not an outward threat, but indirect.”

Officers determined the call was not serious enough to warrant evacuating the building, Stafford said. University Police officers swept the building and found no trace of unidentified packages.