Updated: Public Safety searches for suspect allegedly following women into buildings

At 4:27 p.m. on Tuesday, the Division of Public Safety sent out a public safety advisory to alert the Penn community saying that an individual has been following women into buildings and “approaching them in an aggressive manner.”

The incidents have taken place between 39th and 41st streets from Spruce to Chestnut streets.

The alert described the individual as “a medium to dark complected black male, approximately 5’10” to 6’, medium build, in his late 20s to early 30s, with scruffy facial hair including a goatee, short to medium cropped dark hair, wearing dark clothing."

DPS generally sends out safety advisories to the University community when they "notice patterns of potentially related incidents," the department said in a statement. The last such advisory was sent out in October after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives alerted DPS to an unspecified threat against a university near Philadelphia. A previous advisory was sent in December 2014 after one suspect was connected to multiple assaults in University City. 

The email urged anyone who sees the individual to avoid contact with him and instead report his location to Penn Police by calling 215-573-3333, or 511 from any campus phone. The email also reiterated the DPS’s capability to provide walking escorts or transportation through PennTransit.

This story was last updated on May 11 at 2:48 p.m.

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