A University of Arizona student walking home from campus earlier this month was shoved from behind and pinned to the ground.
Mikenzie Foust, a junior studying psychology, kneed and punched her attacker until he fled at about 1 a.m. in the 1500 block of East Drachman Street.
Foust lives about a mile from the UA campus — her walk home is one she’s done countless times.
“I never thought twice about possibly getting attacked,” she says. “Now I’m terrified to even walk on campus — even with a group of friends.”
The attack was one of two within days of each other that panicked students across the campus who followed updates — some of which contained inaccurate information — on social media and prompted campus and Tucson police to hold a news conference reassuring students and asking them to avoid spreading rumors.
In the second attack, just two days after Foust was assaulted, another woman said she remembers waking up sometime after 8 p.m. and being dragged by a man near Mansfeld Middle School on East Sixth Street, which is also near the UA campus.
When she could stand, she fought back. The man, who is described differently than Foust’s attacker, ran away.
“It broke my heart that this happened to another girl,” Foust says.
Foust says she no longer walks alone. She doesn’t use her phone while walking and she carries both a siren and mace.
Beyond her own safety precautions, she says she wishes the UA would’ve alerted students of her attack sooner.
The UA has two alert systems in place. The first, UAlert, is typically used to warn students of an immediate threat.
The second are Clery Timely Warnings, which are used when a pattern is established. They’re used to warn students of potential long-term dangers.
A Clery Timely Warning was issued a day after the second attack.
“I’ve been in contact with the other victim and if there was an alert after my attack, she said she wouldn’t have been walking alone the day of her’s,” Foust says.
Because the attacks happened off campus, the Tucson Police Department handled the investigations.
UA police didn’t alert students sooner because they were made aware of the attacks hours after they happened, meaning there was no longer an immediate threat to students, said Sgt. Cindy Spasoff.
Foust also mentioned SafeRide, which runs Sundays through Fridays and takes students to nearby locations so they don’t have to walk alone.
However, SafeRide has limited hours on Fridays and doesn’t run at all on Saturdays.
“That’s when we probably need them the most,” Foust said.
A SafeRide representative said the service is student-run and primarily used as an academic service — taking students from the library to their residence halls, for example — which is why hours are limited on Fridays and closed on Saturdays.
Beyond the two recent attacks, and a third from October that Tucson police are investigating, Spasoff says these types of attacks aren’t common at the UA, adding that most assault calls are physical altercations between roommates or friends.
Still, the UA has deployed additional officers after dark.
“We want everyone to feel safe,” Spasoff says.
