At 3:25 a.m. March 2, Ohio State police received an anonymous report of a sexual assault on campus. According to a crime alert on the Department of Public Safety Web site, a female was sexually assaulted at 8:45 p.m. March 1 on the south side of McPherson Lab. The attacker was described as a 6 feet tall, unknown, white and college-aged male.

OSU police received the report during a routine walkthrough in one of the residence halls, Deputy Chief Richard Mormon said.

“We didn’t get a 911 call or anything,” he said. “A hall director was aware of the situation and made a report to the officer.”

To keep the victim and the director anonymous, OSU police were unable to release which dorm the officer was walking through.

OSU public safety has already assigned an investigator to the case. Columbus city police are not part of the investigation, Mormon said.

To protect students from attacks, Mormon recommends students “don’t walk alone; walk in groups,” he said. “And don’t walk around campus with headphones.” Mormon also added that talking on a cell phone while walking creates a false sense of security.

If anyone has information regarding this crime, please contact either the University Police at 292-2121 or Columbus Police at 645-4545. You may also report information anonymously to the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 645-TIPS or the University Crime Stoppers Tips line at 247-TIPS.