UCLA police have arrested a 63-year-old man in connection with a string of
sexual assaults on students in recent weeks.
Calixto Marcellana Nitro of Bakersfield was arrested near Stein Plaza on Westwood Boulevard about 6:20 p.m. Monday after he reached out with his hand and grabbed a young woman’s crotch, campus police said Tuesday.
Police believe he is responsible for at least seven sexual assaults
on students on or near the campus between March 8 and April 7.
Officers who were observing places where other incidents had occurred apprehended the suspect Monday, said Nancy Greenstein, a UCLA Police Department spokeswoman.
The arrest came the same day authorities released a sketch of the suspect, prompting more victims to come forward. Police said Nitro had a pattern of waiting in the path of women using their cellphones or
who were distracted in some way, then attacking them.
Nitro was booked on suspicion of sexual battery, a misdemeanor, and
released on his written promise to appear in court May 12.
— Tony Barboza
Photo: Sketch of the suspect. Credit: UCLA Police Department.