UCLA police have arrested a student on suspicion of attempted rape, following an attack on a female student who was making a cellphone call outside a residence hall before dawn Wednesday.
The suspect was identified as Thaddeus Staniforth, 25, a UCLA student from Fullerton. Staniforth was arrested on suspicion of attempted rape and kidnapping to commit rape, and was being held in lieu of $1-million bail at Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A., UCLA officials said in a statement.
The attempted rape at UCLA occurred about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday when a female student outside the Delta Terrace residence hall was grabbed and taken to another location, police said. The attacker then threw the woman to the ground and straddled her, according to police.
The attacker then stopped the assault and walked away, police said. The woman was scratched during the attack.
Wednesday’s attack appeared to be unrelated to other incidents reported in March, in which women at UCLA reported being grabbed in the crotch or knocked to the ground in attempted sexual assaults. The suspects in those cases fit different descriptions.
UCLA police are warning female students to be extra vigilant.
Staniforth was arrested Friday night at his dorm room at the Delta Terrace residence hall, police said. A flier distributed on campus yielded several tips that led to the arrest.
Investigators were aided by security camera tapes and records of electronic key cards used to enter the dormitories, according to UCLA’s statement.
— Rong-Gong Lin II
Earlier: Campus attacks at UCLA prompt warning to female students