Sac State police increasing patrol following incidents of sexual assault, battery

All victims from the three assaults are students

Alyssa Branum

Sacramento State Police Chief Chet Madison Jr. holds a press conference regarding three recent sexual assaults on Oct. 11, 2022. The incident on Oct. 8 is now the third sexual assault case reported to Sac State PD in the past four weeks, following two incidents on Sept. 23 and Oct. 5. (Photo: Alyssa Branum)

Dominique Williams
October 11, 2022

CONTENT WARNING: The following story features the mention of sexual assault. 

The Sacramento State Police Department is increasing its patrol of the campus following three reports of sexual assault and battery against students, police said.

Community service officers will provide escorts to and from the parking lots at night, Sacramento State Chief of Police Chet Madison Jr. said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

“I just want to make sure that everyone understands we’re responding thoroughly as needed,” Madison said. “At the same time, we’re going to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.”

The suspect from Saturday’s assault was released “pursuant to law” after being issued a misdemeanor citation for battery, Madison said.

Madison said because Sac State is an open campus, police are doing it’s “due diligence” to make sure the suspect from Saturday does not return to the university.

“There are college campuses in this nation that are not open to the public,” Madison said. “That’s not Sac State.”

Sac State police said they received three reports of sexual assault: two on campus on Oct. 5 and Oct. 8. and one off campus on Sept. 23.

He said he does not believe Saturday’s assault is related to the first two. 

“I want to make this absolutely clear: Saturday’s event is not associated to the timely warning notification that was sent out last Thursday,” Madison said. “It’s a totally different incident.”

Madison said campus police released the information on the first two assaults after they realized that there was a pattern.

“As soon as we were able to connect the two potential cases, that’s when we made [the announcement],” Madison said.

These three incidents are the only ones that campus police are aware of, according to Madison. Neither suspects are Sac State students.

He said the suspect in the first two assaults, known as ‘Zayn,’ is affiliated with San Jose State and is being pursued by authorities. Campus police have a “very vague” description of Saturday’s suspect.

Anyone with information regarding ‘Zayn’ is asked to contact campus police.