Armed robberies, sex crimes and theft were reported on Ohio State’s campus this semester. Here is a recap of Fall Semester’s reported crimes:

 

Sex crimes

There were four rapes reported this semester.

In the most recent incident, a female student reported rape by a known suspect at Smith-Steeb Hall Nov. 24. Investigation into the incident is pending, according to the University Police daily log.

On Nov. 17, a female reported a rape by a known suspect at Harding Hospital, part of the Wexner Medical Center.

The incident was not considered a public safety threat because police were aware of who was involved, a Medical Center spokesman said.

Harding Hospital specializes in behavioral health care. Both individuals related to the event are not affiliated with OSU and were not employees of the Medical Center.

Earlier in the semester, a Student Life staff member reported a male student was raped in a car parked in the Ohio Stadium lot.

The incident occurred sometime between Oct. 14 and was reported Nov. 4. The suspect was a male acquaintance of the student and the student did not want to press charges, according to University Police Chief Paul Denton. The incident case is listed as investigation pending on the daily log.

It is University Police policy to accept anonymous and third-party crime reports.

On Sept. 6, a male non-affiliate reported a rape in the early morning at Rhodes Hall.

In addition, an 18-year-old female student reported gross sexual imposition and unlawful restraint at the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library in late October.

University Police Deputy Chief Richard Morman said in an email the incident was reported Oct. 28 but occurred Oct. 2 between 7:30 and 8:45 p.m. The incident was originally reported as kidnapping but was changed to gross sexual imposition and unlawful restraint during the report review process.

“This was not a situation where someone was forcibly removed from one location to another,” Morman said.

The female student and the suspect were acquainted, Morman said. The case is listed as closed on the daily log.

Ohio law defines gross sexual imposition as sexual contact in which the offender purposely compels the victim to submit by force or threat of force, the offender impairs the judgment or control of the victim or knows the victim to be impaired, the victim is less than 13 years old, or the ability of the victim to resist or consent is impaired because of a mental or physical condition or advanced age.

 

Armed robberies

An OSU student was the target of a reported armed robbery Nov. 11. Sydney Adelstein, a second-year in nursing and a member of Delta Gamma women’s fraternity, was robbed after she parked her vehicle in a lot on Indianola Avenue near 15th Avenue.

“I was getting something out of my trunk. I think I was at my trunk for maybe three minutes, and I went to go shut it and I turned around and I saw this person coming up,” Adelstein told The Lantern Nov. 12. “I thought it was someone in my sorority. And she just came up closer and (then) I just thought it was some homeless person … She asked me if I had any money and I was like, ‘Oh, no, sorry.’

“When I said ‘no,’ that is when she put her hands on me and she was like, ‘No, I know you have money.’”

The woman threatened Adelstein and took her bag, which had her MacBook laptop, notes for class and other miscellaneous items in it. Adelstein then ran to the back of the Delta Gamma house and had someone let her in. She next reported the incident to the Columbus Division of Police.

A public safety notice was issued about the incident Nov. 12 at about 5 p.m.

In the notice, the suspect was described as a black woman between age 16 and 25, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and approximately 200 pounds. She was armed with a handgun and was wearing a camouflage jacket, black pants and a black scarf or mask over her face.

Earlier in the semester, Huntington Bank was robbed twice. Located at 235 W. 11th Ave., the first robbery occurred Sept. 14 at about 9:25 a.m. The suspect had a knife and was described as a black man in his mid-30s who was wearing a black-and-white plaid button-down, sunglasses and a black baseball hat with a white logo.

According to a police release, the Cincinnati Division of the FBI and University Police are working together to find information on the case, a standard partnership in a bank robbery, which is a federal crime, according to a University Police dispatcher Sept. 15.

The bank was robbed again by a man with a gun Sept. 26 at about 9:35 a.m. The suspect was described as a man of similar physical description.

There were six public safety notices issued since the beginning of August related to an armed robbery, attempted armed robbery or aggravated armed robbery reported in the OSU campus area.

A reported attempted armed robbery Aug. 26 on the Olentangy River bridge and a reported aggravated armed robbery Aug. 7 at an Ohio Union parking garage prompted two notices. An attempted robbery reported Sept. 11 on West Maynard Avenue prompted a public safety notice that also mentioned an Aug. 19 reported armed robbery on West Oakland Avenue. The two armed robberies reported at Huntington Bank each prompted their own notices.

 

Assaults and armed persons

There have been more than 400 thefts reported this semester, about 25 percent of which were thefts of bicycles.

A male student reported assault near High Street and 17th Avenue Oct. 18 at about 2:30 a.m. No arrests were made in relation to the incident and the case was closed, according to a University Police report.

A female student reported aggravated menacing near High Street and 16th Avenue in Sept. 30 after a woman verbally harassed her. The alleged violator was a white female, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood up, black sunglasses and black loose-fitting pants, carrying a fuschia pink backpack. The student also described the woman as looking like an “old hag” or drug user. The woman might have been carrying a knife, according to a University Police report. Police officers checked the area but did not find the woman.

There were two incidents where guns were reportedly pulled on individuals this semester.

A male graduate student reported having a gun pointed at him by a passenger of a car driving southbound on College Road between 11th and 12th avenues Sept. 21 at about 5:40 p.m.

The student described the vehicle as a blue Ford Focus with Pennsylvania license plates. The passenger was described as a white male wearing a hat and a white OSU jersey. He was holding a silver handgun. The driver of the car was also described as a white male, according to a University Police report.

No license plate number, suspect vehicle or further information for follow-up were able to be located and the case was closed, according to a University Police report.

Three males unaffiliated with OSU reported that a male “pulled a gun on them” on Curl Drive Aug. 23 at about 9:30 p.m., according to a University Police report.

The three males, aged 16 to 21, were leaving the basketball courts on Curl Drive when they noticed the male suspect “looking at them funny.” The suspect initiated a short friendly conversation with them before pulling a small silver semi-automatic handgun out of his pocket. The suspect did not point the gun at the males but said, “Check me out,” several times. The three males then ran away from the suspect, according to the University Police report.

The suspect, a black male approximately 17 to 18 years old, was with another black male approximately age 18 to 19 and a black female approximately 15 to 17 years old. The three reportedly left eastbound toward High Street after the incident occurred.

Following the incident, one of the males who had been leaving the basketball courts attempted to call 911 but reached a recording telling him the lines were busy. He then used the emergency phone near Haverfield House to contact police.

The case was documented as disorderly conduct and was closed.

 

Logan Hickman and Dan Hessler contributed to this story.